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THOMAS BABBINGTON MACAULAY 



l^eatli'g Cgngltst) Ctaggtcc 
THE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME 

BY 

THOMAS BABINGTON MACAULAY 

EDITED BY 
MARTHA HALE SHACKFORD, Ph.D. 

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH LITERATURE 
WELLESLEY COLLEGE 



BOSTON, U.S.A. 

D. C. HEATH & CO., PUBLISHERS 

1907 






USRARY«r CONGRESS 

two CoDiM RecetVdd 

AUG 20l90f 

Cooyrifht Entry 

CLASS A ^XXe., No. 
COPY J. 



Copyright, 1907, 
By D. C. Heath & Co. 



PREFACE 

The desire of the reader of these poems should be to gain as 
lively a sense as possible of the civilization, the manners, the cus- 
toms, and the ideals of Ancient Rome, and also to respond to the 
thrilling style in which Macaulay made the events dramatic. In 
The Lays of Ancient Rome the poet became an impassioned 
champion of patriotism and a revealer of the sturdy gifts of the 
orator who speaks, impromptu, on a subject near his heart. The 
lays should be read early in the pupil's course in literature, for 
the fiery sweep of Macaulay's popular measure, the excitement of 
his narrative, and the brilliant picturesqueness of his allusions, 
win the loyal admiration of young readers, and teach them many 
truths of history and of literature. It will be a comparatively 
simple matter to lead students on from the metallic charm of 
Macaulay's verse to the more genuinely melodious and imagina- 
tive beauty of The Ancient Mariner-, or of V Allegro, or of the 
lyrics in The Golden Treasury. 

The arrangement of notes in this volume will be clear at a 
glance. Geographical names are treated briefly in foot-notes, the 
aim being to suggest the district in which each town was, and 
thus to state whether it was, or was not, near Rome. Students 
can find the exact location by referring to the map. The notes 
explanatory of the text do not contain comment upon purely 
poetic values, for all suggestions in regard to the study and 
appreciation of Macaulay's art have been grouped together 
(page 1 06), in the belief that pupils will gain more literary in- 
sight if they are made to study the poetry in unified fashion, 
viewing the subject of poetics systematically. If students devote 
themselves, in the first reading of *the lays, to understanding the 



IV 



PREFACE 



subject-matter, they will be able in a second reading to think 
attentively of the style. Noting how Macaulay brought a wealth 
of figures and of concrete beauties to supplement the bare narra- 
tive, each reader will gain a certain individual power of apprecia- 
tion ; and he will realize that every word gives such a challenge 
to the imagination that he must read slowly enough to allow the 
poet's art to cast its spell. 

The text of the lays is that of Lady Trevelyan's edition of 
Macaulay's works. Macaulay's learned introductions have been 
omitted, for they occupy an amount of space out of proportion to 
their value to the general reader. 

M. H. S. 

Wellesley, Mass^ 
April 22, 1907. 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 



VI 



Chronology of the Life of Macaulay 

A Study of Heroic Poetry .... vii 

Text of The Lays of Ancient Rome 
Horatius • - . . . 

The Battle of the Lake Regillus 26 

Virginia ^^ 

The Prophecy of Capys •••... 72 

Notes Explanatory of the Text ... gr 

Notes and Suggestions for the Study of the 

Poetry of the Lays j 5 

Index of Proper Names jjj 

Bibliography ... 

"3 



CHRONOLOGY OF THE LIFE OF 
MACAULAY 

1800. Thomas Babington Macaulay was born at Rothley Tem- 
ple, Leicestershire, England. 

1818. He entered Trinity College, Cambridge, where he had a 
distinguished career, winning prizes for his composi- 
tions in verse. 

1822. He received at Cambridge University the degree of 
Bachelor of Arts. 

1824. He was appointed Fellow of Trinity College. 

1825. He published his essay on Milton in the Edinburgh 

Review and from this time on continued to publish 
critical essays. 

1826. He was admitted to the Bar. 
1830. He entered Parliament. 

1834 — 8. He resided in India, where he held a high adminis- 
trative office. 

1839. ^^ '^'^'^s made Secretary of War and Member of the Privy 
Council. 

1842. He published The Lays of Ancient Ro7ne. 

1844. He published his essay on Addison. 

1849. He published the first two volumes of the History of 
England. 

1855. He published the third and fourth volumes of the History 
of Efiglajid. 

1857. He was created Baron Rothley, in recognition of his 
services to literature. 

1859. He died December 28, and was buried in Westminster 
Abbey. 



A STUDY OF HEROIC POETRY 

Origins 

A lay is a brief poem usually narrating some deed of 
daring, the exploit of one man, or the achievement of a 
whole nation. The word is the same as the old French lai 
and seems originally to have meant a " song," in the period 
of the Middle Ages when almost all poetry was sung, or 
chanted, to the accompaniment of some musical instrument. 
We, who read these tales in print to-day, miss the splendor 
that attended them in olden times when there were in 
existence only a few books, all laboriously copied by hand, 
and when it was the custom for people to gather in some 
spacious hall, or some open street, to hear the minstrel recite 
his heroic stories with the utmost dramatic effectiveness of 
voice and gesture. 

The mediaeval minstrel occupied a position difficult for 
us to appreciate in this era of pubhshe^d books and circulat- 
ing libraries. He was the person upon whom the people 
depended for entertainment in long evenings or on holidays, 
for it was he who could relate his experiences in far-away 
lands, or could delight the listeners with vivid narratives of 
real or of fictitious warriors. Sometimes he was taken into 
the service of a king or of a noble, and lavishly rewarded for 
his skill in entertaining the household. Sometimes he was 
a wandering singer passing from village to village with care- 
less spirit, and depending for his livelihood upon the gener- 
osity of the people who listened to his singing. In either 



viii A STUDY OF HEROIC POETRY 

case it was a life full of charm, having many opportunities 
to sway the hearts of men with strong emotion. 

The position of the minstrel has been one of importance 
in European civilization from the earliest times. The 
Greek Homer, according to tradition, was a rhapsodist who 
roamed from city to city, singing in the streets the stirring 
events of the siege of Troy, or describing, with a deep 
undercurrent of personal sadness, the long wanderings of 
Ulysses. Among the Celtic people in western Europe there 
were bards ; one of these, Ossian, is still remembered. In 
Ireland, during the past few years, there has been a great 
effort to collect the old songs chanted by the bards. 
Students have journeyed from cottage to cottage to hear 
Irish peasants recite the poems their parents taught them, 
and the stories which have been handed down from genera- 
tions long ago. Old men and women, who cannot read or 
write, have remembered since childhood many of the tradi- 
tional national stories ; and partly from their dictation, partly 
from the old manuscripts, have come the wonderful collec- 
tions of legends concerned with the deeds of the famous 
Cuchulain and Finn.^ The Scandinavian sagas were the 
work of scalds, — poets who delighted in recounting the 
glorious enterprises of their countrymen. 

Among our English ancestors the minstrel was loved and 
honored. The Old English poems, written during the years 
from 450 to 1 100, have many references to life in the mead- 
hall, where, in the midst of their feasting, the warriors listened 
eagerly to the songs and applauded the eloquent declama- 
tions of their favorites. In Widsith, the Far Traveler, our 

1 See Bibliography, p. 113, for translations of these poems, and of others 
mentioned on the following pages. 



A STUDY OF HEROIC POETRY ix 

eldest English poem, we listen to the history of a wandering 
glee man who had traveled in many remote lands, and had 
brought away from them memories of brave men as well as 
gorgeous gifts, — rings, massive circlets, and collars of 
beaten gold. We find in Beowulf constant suggestion of 
the minstrels' presence, and the music of the harp vies, 
there, with the clash of armor. 

The Middle English period (i 100-1500) was potently in- 
fluenced by the Romance nations — Italy, Spain, and, chiefly, 
France. When Wifliam the Conqueror came to England, a 
minstrel walked at the head of the army chanting an inspir- 
ing battle song, the So7ig of Roland, the famous French 
epic. The years after iioo were years of the supremacy of 
the jongleur, who, under various names, magnified the 
power and position of the minstrel. 

It is easy for us, with the help of Chaucer and of Spenser, 
to imagine the scene in the lordly castle when the minstrel 
was called to chant some popular lay. In the great hall were 
gathered the knights and ladies in gorgeous garments of blue 
and gold, green and crimson ; the hawks and the falcons, 
trained for hunting, hung on their perches round about ; the 
great hounds lay on the stone floor with their noses resting 
on their paws ; then from time to time : — 

" Many Minstrales maken melody, 
To drive away the dull melancholy; 
And many Bardes, that to the trembling chord 
Can tune their timely voices cunningly; 
And many Chroniclers, that can record 
Old loves, and vv^arres for Ladies doen by many a Lord." ^ 

Or we may picture to ourselves a village square, full of 
throngs of people chatting idly after a day's toil ; and we can 

1 Spenser : The Faerie Queene, Book I, Canto V, stanza IIL 



X A STUDY OF HEROIC POETRY 

see suddenly, around a corner, a figure brilliantly decorated 
with ribbons and rosettes, wearing a kind of knapsack on his 
back and carrying in his hand a lute, something like our 
guitar. Immediately he begins to play and sing, and people 
gather about him, rewarding his music with hearty applause 
and with gifts of food or money. The fascination of the life 
of the wandering minstrel was clear enough to one of our 
English poets, Oliver Goldsmith, who, with flute in hand, 
journeyed over portions of Europe on foot. Often he earned 
his supper and night's lodging by his musical talents and 
by his skill, probably, in telHng the tale of his wanderings. 

The songs of the minstrels varied from brief lyrics of love 
or nature to long narratives that sometimes occupied many 
evenings. Deeds of war, of martial enterprise, were favorites, 
and vivid, picturesque accounts of battle won great applause. 
The singer could recite legends drawn from distant antiq- 
uity or he could so weave his spell over events of the current 
year as to fire his audience with enthusiasm for the gallant 
conduct of some bold hero. A passion for bravery is instinc- 
tive in the human race, and since time began men and 
women and children have been alert to hear the praises of a 
hero, whether he be a mythological prince fighting for his 
ancestral kingdom or a poor laborer who rescues a child from 
danger. Character as well as incident, then, formed the 
theme of the singer. 

Widsith gives us a suggestion of the eulogistic elements 
of ancient song : — 

" For he, Prince of the Myrgings. gave to me 
The land I hold, my father's heritage. 
Then Ealhhild, Edwin's daughter, noble queen, 
Gave me another. Over many lands 



A STUDY OF HEROIC POETRY xi 

I have prolonged her praise, when my task was 
To say in song where under Heaven I knew 
The gold-wreathed queen most happy in her gifts. 
When I and Skilling for our conquering lord 
With clear voice raised the song, loud to the harp, 
The sound was music ; many a stately man. 
Who well knew what was right, then said in words 
That never had they heard a happier song." ^ 

Types 

It is possible to divide these martial stories into three 
classes : heroic poems, or folk epics ; romances ; and 
ballads. 

The true epic v^ras ordinarily longer than the other 
varieties, and was concerned with the adventures of a heroic 
figure whose prowess in battle had singled him out from 
among his comrades. Conquest, warfare, described with a 
certain stateliness of movement, made the epic poem a 
species of art capable of great beauty. The narrator was 
able by his manner of speech to give the story the dignity of 
atmosphere that is to be felt in lofty hymns. The hero be- 
came not only a person of renown and glory ; he was often 
surrounded with the attributes that are given to demi-gods, 
becoming an ideal type of courage and magnanimity. Of 
the influence of the epic hero upon the populace, it is not too 
much to say that he served as symbol of their highest dreams 
and was a constant inspiration to ambitious achievement. 
The Iliad^ the Odyssey, Beowulf, Cid, Niebehingen Lied, 
Cuchulain, are all representatives of this class of poems sung 

1 Henry Morley : English Writers, Vol. I, Cassell, New York. 

2 See Bibliography, p. 113, for translations of these epics. 



xii A STUDY OF HEROIC POETRY 

long ago to excited audiences, who treasured the portrait of 
the exalted chief, winner of immortal fame. 

The romance was similar to the epic but less serious in 
tone, for it was based upon the effort of the hero to win the 
love of some fair lady. Chivalry, with its ideals of loyalty, 
courtesy, and liberality, produced a civilization in which 
women played a very important part. They were given, 
practically, command over the details of social life, and 
kings, nobles, and servants, alike, moved in accordance with 
their behests. The external splendor and the elaborate 
codes of behavior characterizing the Hfe of this period 
(i 100-1500) are lavishly displayed in the old romances. 
Adventures of various kinds were undertaken by warriors 
with a view to winning the love and favor of some lady, who 
was often rather exacting in her demands. Knights fought 
with other knights, with dragons, giants, dwarfs, or with 
Saracens — infidel knights deserving speedy death at the 
hands of Christians. Disguises, enchantments, surprises of 
many sorts appeared, to the endless delight of an audience 
superstitious and childish. The element of mystery, together 
with the presence of a fervid and never forgotten love, made 
this form of verse so popular that it rivaled all others for a 
certain time. King Hoi-n} Guy of Warwick^ Sir Gaivain 
and the Gree?i Knight are preserved in manuscript, examples 
of a fashion once in high favor. In Italy Tasso's Jerusalem 
Delivered^ and Ariosto's Mad Orlando are written imita- 
tions of the legendary romances. 

The ballad, the briefest of narratives, has been a very 
popular form of poetry. Various ballads have come down 
to us from the fifteenth and the sixteenth centuries, appear- 

1 See Bibliography, p. 113, for translations of these romances. 



A STUDY OF HEROIC POETRY xiii 

ing often in four or five different versions, for the people 
who recited the ballads by the fireside, or in social gather- 
ings, made many unintentional changes, in their effort to 
recite from memory what they had heard recited by others. 
In the ballads are stories of lovers separated by the cruel 
jealousy of other persons ; and tales of romantic adventure 
by land and sea or in fairyland, whither young people were 
sometimes carried by enchantment and transformed into 
supernatural beings. Historical ballads are common in the 
literature of all nations. Chevy Chase, The Battle of Otter- 
burn, Sir Patrick Spens, Edom O' Gordon, the Robin Hood 
ballads, and many others which recount passages from ac- 
tual life, are familiar to students of English poetry. How- 
ever the subjects of the ballads might vary, the style was 
usually the same in all. Repetition was frequent, not only 
of single words and epithets, but often of phrases and whole 
verses, which made a refrain for every stanza. The charm 
of the ballads is due to their simplicity, their vivid pictures, 
and their rapid, somewhat abrupt movement, which empha- 
sizes the intensity of feeling in the dramatic recitals. No 
small part of the beauty is the distinctive cadence of the 
ballad stanza seen in the specimen that follows : — 

" The ship wherein my love shall sail 
Is glorious to behold ; 
The sails shall be of finest silk, 
And the mast of shining gold." ^ 

Sir Philip Sidney, in a famous passage, gave his tribute to 
the power of the ballad in speaking of Chevy Chase : " Cer- 
tainly I must confess mine own barbarousness ; I never 

1 James Harris, English and Scottish Popular Ballads, ed. Sargent and 
Kittredge, p. 545, Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston. 



xiv A STUDY OF HEROIC POETRY 

heard the old song of Percy and Douglas that I found not 
my heart moved more than with a trumpet ; and yet it was 
sung by some blind crowder, with no rougher voice than 
rude style : which being so evil appareled in the dust and 
cobwebs of that uncivil age, what would it work, trimmed 
in the gorgeous eloquence of Pindar?"^ 

The Lays of Ancient Rome 

It is the historical ballad which was most closely imitated 
by Macaulay in The Lays of Ancie^it Rome. In subject- 
matter, in style, and in purpose, his poems recall the older 
literature, which he studied eagerly in his attempt to revive 
the spirit of heroic poetry. Macaulay desired to enter into 
the life of a Roman ballad maker, and speak as he would 
have spoken under the stress of patriotic passion. For this 
task he needed, and he possessed, quickness of appreciation, 
an intense love of the dramatic, and a ready vigor of utter- 
ance. The reading public was moved to great enthusiasm 
for the genius of the author of the lays. In these four poems 
is a splendid example of the power of the human mind to 
imagine and reconstruct the past, making it vivid and real 
after the progress of many centuries. Macaulay brings be- 
fore us the life of Ancient Rome, using a multitude of 
details and trifling allusions to make the civihzation of that 
time evident to our modern eyes. Such vividness is a trib- 
ute to the wide reading and phenomenal memory of the 
poet. His intellectual vigor did not fail him in this effort 
to rebuild a fallen city and restore to it the trades, the 
amusements, the dweUings, and all the concrete manifesta- 
tions of actual life. 

1 Sidney : Defense of Poesy, ed. Cook, p. 29. Ginn & Co., Boston. 



A STUDY OF HEROIC POETRY xv 

In style Macaulay assumed, most successfully, the method 
of the narrative poet, the impromptu speaker, burning with 
zeal, and endowed with the ability to go directly to his subject 
without artifice. SimpHcity and boldness of speech charac- 
terize these poems. There is no affectation of elegant dic- 
tion, no yearning for display ; the poet proceeds with abun- 
dant energy of declamation to inflame his audience with anger 
or sympathy, or patriotic fervor. Intentional imitations of 
classical similes, recurring epithets, or conventional imagery 
occur, introduced for the purpose of keeping to the tone of 
Roman heroic poetry. Macaulay did not attempt to vie 
with those poets who voiced their appreciation of deeply 
spiritual truths, and he should not be condemned because he 
is not Shakespeare or Shelley. With keen insight, the author 
of The Lays of Ancient Rome analyzed his own endowment. 
He discovered what he could do best, chose the field in 
which he was sure to excel, and found the most appropriate 
expression of his poetic genius. Understanding exactly 
what he wished to accomplish, Macaulay used the in- 
fallible means in his power to gain his end. Emphasis, in 
the lays, is all upon action, upon quick emotion, upon the 
natural movement of public life. No meditative soliloquies 
or exhaustively detailed descriptions of men or things appear ; 
everything is directed toward making the reader participate 
enthusiastically in the events pictured. 

In assuming the style and personality of an old minstrel, 
Macaulay performed a highly ambitious feat, at a time when 
the conditions which he tried to revive were wholly forgotten. 
His success was remarkable, and he is worthy of great praise, 
for he has preserved for us, in lasting, impressive form, some 
of the most precious legends of heroic valor. 





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THE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME 

HORATIUS 

A LAY MADE ABOUT THE YEAR OF THE CITY CCCLX 



Lars Porsena of Clusium ^ 

By the Nine Gods he swore 
That the great house of Tarquin 

Should suffer wrong no more. 
By the Nine Gods he swore it, 

And named a trysting day, 
And bade his messengers ride forth, 
East and west and south and north. 

To summon his array. 



East and west and south and north 

The messengers ride fast. 
And tower and town and cottage 

Have heard the trumpet's blast.- 
Shame on the false Etruscan 

Who lingers in his home, 
When Porsena of Clusium 

Is on the march for Rome. 

1 In Etruria. 



2 THE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME 

III 
The horsemen and the footmen 

Are pouring in amain 
From many a stately market-place , 

From many a fruitful plain; 
From many a lonely hamlet, 

Which, hid by beech and pine, 
Like an eagle's nest, hangs on the crest 

Of purple Apennine ; 

IV 

From lordly Volaterrae,^ 

Where scowls the far-famed hold 
Piled by the hands of giants 

For godlike kings of old ; 
From seagirt Populonia,^ 

Whose sentinels descry 
Sardinia's ^ snowy mountain-tops 

Fringing the southern sky ; 

V 

From the proud mart of Pisae,^ 

Queen of the western waves, 
Where ride Massilia's '' triremes 

Heavy with fair-haired slaves ; 
From where sweet Clanis ^ wanders 

Through corn and vines and flowers ; 
From where Cortona ^ lifts to heaven 

Her diadem of towers. 

1 In western Etruria. 2 xhe island. 3 In western Etruria • 

modern Pisa. •* in southern France; modern Marseilles. sin 

central Etruria. 



HORATIUS ^ 3 

VI 

Tall are the oaks whose acorns 

Drop in Dark Auser's ^ rill ; 
Fat are the stags that champ the boughs 

Of the Ciminian ^ hill ; 
Beyond all streams Clitumnus ^ 

Is to the herdsman dear ; 
Best of all pools the fowler loves 

The great Volsinian mere.* 

VII 

But now no stroke of woodman 

Is heard by Auser's rill ; 
No hunter tracks the stag's green path 

Up the Ciminian hill ; 
Unwatched along CHtumnus 

Grazes the milk-white steer ; 
Unharmed the water fowl may dip 

In the Volsinian mere. 

VIII 

The harvests of Arretium/ 

This year, old men shall reap ; 
This year, young boys in Umbro^ 

Shall plunge the struggling sheep ; 
And in the vats of Luna,^ 

This year, the must shall foam 
Round the white feet of laughing girls 

Whose sires have marched to Rome. 

1 In Etruria. 2 Mount Ciminus, in Etruria. 8 in Umbria. 

4 A lake near Volsinii, in southern Etruria, 6 In Etruria. 



THE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME 

IX 

There be thirty chosen prophets, 

The wisest of the land, 
Who alway by Lars Porsena 

Both morn and evening stand : 
Evening and morn the Thirty 

Have turned the verses o'er. 
Traced from the right on Hnen white 

By mighty seers of yore. 



And with one voice the Thirty 

Have their glad answer given : 
" Go forth, go forth, Lars Porsena ; 

Go forth, beloved of Heaven ; 
Go, and return in glory 

To Clusium's royal dome ; 
And hang round Nurscia's altars 

The golden shields of Rome." 

XI 

And now hath every city 

Sent up her tale of men ; 
The foot are fourscore thousand, 

The horse are thousands ten. 
Before the gates of Sutrium ^ 

Is met the great array. 
A proud man was Lars Porsena 

Upon the trysting day. 

1 In southern Etruria. 



HORATIUS 

XII 

For all the Etruscan armies 

Were ranged beneath his eye, 
And many a banished Roman, 

And many a stout ally ; 
And with a mighty following 

To join the muster came 
The Tusculan Mamilius, 

Prince of the Latian name. 



XIII 

But by the yellow Tiber 

Was tumult and affright : 
From all the spacious champaign 

To Rome men took their flight. 
A mile around the city, 

The throng stopped up the ways ; 
A fearful sight it was to see 

Through two long nights and days. 

XIV 

For aged folks on crutches, 

And women great with child. 
And mothers sobbing over babes 

That clung to them and smiled, 
And sick men borne in litters 

High on the necks of slaves, 
And troops of sun-burned husbandmen 

With reaping-hooks and staves. 



THE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME 

XV 

And droves of mules and asses 

Laden with skins of wine, 
And endless flocks of goats and sheep, 

And endless herds of kine. 
And endless trains of waggons 

That creaked beneath the weight 
Of corn-sacks and of household goods, 

Choked every roaring gate. 

XVI 

Now, from the rock Tarpeian, 

Could the wan burghers spy 
The line of blazing villages 

Red in the midnight sky. 
The Fathers of the City, 

They sat all night and day, 
For every hour some horseman came 

With tidings of dismay. 

XVII 

To eastward and to westward 

Have spread the Tuscan bands ; 
Nor house, nor fence, nor dovecote 

In Crustumerium ^ stands. 
Verbenna down to Ostia^ 

Hath wasted all the plain ; 
Astur hath stormed Janiculum,^ 

And the stout guards are slain. 

^ In western Latium. 

- The seaport of Rome, at the mouth of the Tiber. 

3 A hill in Rome, on the other side of the Tiber from the Forum. 



HORATIUS 

XVIII 

I wis, in all the Senate, 

There was no heart so bold, 
But sore it ached, and fast it beat, 

When that ill news was told. 
Forthwith up rose the Consul, 

Up rose the Fathers all ; 
In haste they girded up their gowns. 

And hied them to the wall. 

XIX 

They held a council standing, 

Before the River-Gate ; 
Short time was there, ye well may guess, 

For musing or debate. 
Out spake the Consul roundly : 

" The bridge must straight go down ; 
For, since Janiculum is lost, 

Nought else can save the town." 



XX 

Just then a scout came flying, 

All wild with haste and fear : 
" To arms ! to arms ! Sir Consul : 

LarsPorsena is here." 
On the low hills to westward 

The Consul fixed his eye, 
And saw the swarthy storm of dust 

Rise fast along the sky. 



THE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME 

XXI 

And nearer fast and nearer 

Doth the red whirlwind come ; 
And louder still and still more loud, 
From underneath that rolling cloud, 
Is heard the trumpet's war-note proud. 

The trampling, and the hum. 
And plainly and more plainly 

Now through the gloom appears, 
Far to left and far to right. 
In broken gleams of dark- blue light, 
The long array of helmets bright. 

The long array of spears. 

XXII 

And plainly and more plainly. 

Above that glimmering line. 
Now might ye see the banners 

Of twelve fair cities shine ; 
But the banner of proud Clusium 

Was highest of them all. 
The terror of the Umbrian, 

The terror of the Gaul. 

XXIII 

And plainly and more plainly 
Now might the burghers know, 

By port and vest, by horse and crest. 
Each warlike Lucumo. 

There Cilnius of Arretium 
On his fleet roan was seen -, 



HORATIUS 

And Astur of the four- fold shield, 
Girt with the brand none else may wield, 
Tolumnius with the belt of gold, 
And dark Verbenna from the hold 
By reedy Thrasymene.^ 

XXIV 

Fast by the royal standard, 

O'erlooking all the war, 
Lars Porsena of Clusium 

Sat in his ivory car. 
By the right wheel rode Mamilius, 

Prince of the Latian name ; 
And by the left false Sextus, 

That wrought the deed of shame. 

XXV 

But when the face of Sextus 

Was seen among the foes, 
A yell that rent the firmament 

From all the town arose. 
On the house-tops was no woman 

But spat towards him and hissed, 
No child but screamed out curses, 

And shook its little fist. 

XXVI 

But the Consul's brow was sad. 
And the Consul's speech was low, 

1 The lake in eastern Etruria. 



lo THE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME 

And darkly looked he at the wall, 

And darkly at the foe. 
" Their van will be upon us 

Before the bridge goes down ; 
And if they once may win the bridge, 

What hope to save the town? " 

XXVII 

Then out spake brave Horatius, 

The Captain of the Gate : 
" To every man upon this earth 

Death cometh soon or late. 
And how can man die better 

Than facing fearful odds. 
For the ashes of his fathers, 

And the temples of his Gods, 

XXVIII 

" And for the tender mother 

Who dandled him to rest. 
And for the wife who nurses 

His baby at her breast. 
And for the holy maidens 

Who feed the eternal flame, 
To save them from false Sextus 

That wrought the deed of shame ? 

XXIX 

" Hew down the bridge, Sir Consul, 

With all the speed ye may ; 
I, with two more to help me^ 



HORATIUS II 



Will hold the foe in play. 
In yon strait path a thousand 

May well be stopped by three. 
Now who will stand on either hand, 

And keep the bridge with me?" 

XXX 

Then out spake Spurius tartius ; 

A Ramnian proud was he : 
" Lo, I will stand at thy right hand. 

And keep the bridge with thee." 
And out spake strong Herminius 

Of Titian blood was he : 
" I will abide on thy left side, 

And keep the bridge with thee." 

XXXI 

"Horatius," quoth the consul, 

"As thou say est, so let it be." 
And straight against that great array 

Forth went the dauntless Three. 
For Romans in Rome's quarrel 

Spared neither land nor gold. 
Nor son nor wife, nor Hmb nor Ufe, 

In the brave days of old. 

XXXII 

Then none was for a party ; 

Then all were for the state ; 
Then the great men helped the poor. 

And the poor man loved the great : 



12 THE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME 

Then lands were fairly portioned ; 

Then spoils were fairly sold : 
The Romans were like brothers 

In the brave days of old. 

XXXIII 

Now Roman is to Roman 

More hateful' than a foe. 
And the Tribunes beard the high, 

And the Fathers grind the low. 
As we wax hot in faction, 

In battle we wax cold : 
Wherefore men fight not as they fought 

In the brave days of old. 

XXXIV 

Now while the three were tightening 

Their harness on their backs, 
The Consul was the foremost man 

To take in hand an axe : 
And Fathers mixed with Commons 

Seized hatchet, bar, and crow, 
And smote upon the planks above, 

And loosed the props below. 

XXXV 

Meanwhile the Tuscan army. 

Right glorious to behold. 
Came flashing back the noonday light, 
Rank behind rank, Hke surges bright 
Of a broad sea of gold. 



HORATIUS 13 

Four hundred trumpets sounded 

A peal of warlike glee, 
As that great host, with measured tread, 
And spears advanced, and ensigns spread. 

Rolled slowly towards the bridge's head, 
Where stood the dauntless Three. 

XXXVI 

The Three stood calm and silent. 

And looked upon the foes. 
And a great shout of laughter 

From all the vanguard rose : 
And forth three chiefs came spurring 

Before that deep array : 
To earth they sprang, their swords they drew. 
And lifted high their shields, and flew 

To win the narrow way ; 

XXXVII 

Annus from green Tifernum,^ 

Lord of the Hill of Vines ; 
And Seius, whose eight hundred slaves 

Sicken in Ilva's ^ mines ; 
And Picus, long to Clusium 

Vassal in peace and war. 
Who led to fight his Umbrian powers 
From that grey crag where, girt with towers. 
The fortress of Nequinum lowers 

O'er the pale waves of Nar. 

1 In Umbria. 

2 The island west of Etruria ; modern Elba. 



14 THE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME 

XXXVIII 

Stout Lartius hurled down Aunus 

Into the stream beneath ; 
Herminius struck at Seius, 

And clove him to the teeth ; 
At Picus brave Horatius 

Darted one fiery thrust ; 
And the proud Umbrian's gilded arms 

Clashed in the bloody dust. 

XXXIX 

Then Ocnus of Falerii ^ 

Rushed on the Roman Three ; 
And Lausulus of Urgo,^ 

The rover of the sea ; 
And Aruns of Volsinium,^ 

Who slew the great wild boar, 
The great wild boar that had his den 
Amidst the reeds of Cosa's ^ fen, 
And wasted fields, and slaughtered men, 

Along Albinia's shore. 

XL 

Herminius smote down Aruns : 

Lartius laid Ocnus low : 
Right to the heart of Lausulus 

Horatius sent a blow. 
" Lie there," he cried, " fell pirate ! 

1 In southern Etruria. 2 a small island west of Etruria. 

3 Volsinii, in Etruria, 4 Qn the coast of Etruria. 



HORATIUS 15 

No more, aghast and pale, 
From Ostia's walls the crowd shall mark 
The track of thy destroying bark. 
No more Campania's^ hinds shall fly 
To woods and caverns when they spy 

Thy thrice accursed sail." 

XLI 

But now no sound of laughter 

Was heard among the foes. 
A wild and wrathful clamour 

From all the vanguard rose. 
Six spears' length from the entrance 

Halted that deep array, 
And for a space no man came forth 

To win the narrow way. 

XLII 

But hark ! the cry is Astur : 

And lo ! the ranks divide ; 
And the great Lord of Luna 

Comes with his stately stride. 
Upon his ample shoulders 

Clangs loud the four- fold shield, 
And in his hand he shakes the brand 

Which none but he can wield. 

XLIII 

He smiled on those bold Romans 
A smile serene and high ; 

1 A district south of Latium. 



i6 THE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME 

He eyed the flinching Tuscans, 

And scorn was in his eye. 
Quoth he, " The she-wolfs litter 

Stand savagely at bay : 
But will ye dare to follow, 

If Astur clears the way ? " 

XLIV 

Then, whirling up his broadsword 

With both hands to the height, 
He rushed against Horatius, 

And smote with all his might. 
With shield and blade Horatius 

Right deftly turned the blow. 
The blow, though turned, came yet too nigh; 
It missed his helm, but gashed his thigh : 
The Tuscans raised a joyful cry 

To see the red blood flow. 



XLV 

He reeled, and on Herminius 

He leaned one breathing-space ; 
Then, like a wild cat mad with wounds. 

Sprang right at Astur's face. 
Through teeth, and skull, and helmet 

So fierce a thrust he sped. 
The good sword stood a hand-breadth out 

Behind the Tuscan's head. 



HORATIUS 17 



XLVI 



And the great Lord of Luna 

Fell at that deadly stroke, 
As falls on Mount Alvernus ^ 

A thunder smitten oak 
Far o'er the crashing forest 

The giant arms lie spread ; 
And the pale augurs, muttering low. 

Gaze on the blasted head. 

XLVII 

On Astur's throat Horatius 

Right firmly pressed his heel ; 
And thrice and four times tugged amain, 

Ere he wrenched out the steel. 
" And see," he cried, " the welcome, 

Fair guests, that waits you here ! 
What noble Lucumo comes next 

To taste our Roman cheer? " 

XLVIII 

But at his haughty challenge 

A sullen murmur ran. 
Mingled of wrath, and shame, and dread, 

Along that gHttering van. 
There lacked not men of prowess. 

Nor men of lordly race ; 
For all Etruria's noblest 

Were round the fatal place. 

1 On the border of Umbria. 



i8 THE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME 

XLEX 

But all Etruria's noblest 

Felt their hearts sink to see 
On the earth the bloody corpses, 

In the path the dauntless Three : 
And from the ghastly entrance 

Where those bold Romans stood, 
All shrank, like boys who unaware, 

Ranging the woods to start a hare. 
Come to the mouth of the dark lair 
Where, growling low, a fierce old bear 

Lies amidst bones and blood. 



V, 



Was none who would be foremost 

To lead such dire attack ; 
But those behind cried, " Forward ! ' 

And those before cried, " Back ! " 
And backward now and forward 

Wavers the deep array ; 
And on the tossing sea of steel, 
To and fro the standards reel ; 
And the victorious trumpet-peal 

Dies fitfully away. 

LI 

Yet one man for one moment 
Strode out before the crowd ; 

Well known was he to all the Three, 
And they gave him greeting loud. 



HORATIUS 19 

" Now welcome, welcome, Sextus ! 

Now welcome to thy home ! 
Why dost thou stay, and turn away 

Here lies the road to Rome." 

LII 

Thrice looked he at the city ; 

Thrice looked he at the dead ; 
And thrice came on in fury. 

And thrice turned back in dread : 
And, white with fear and hatred, 

Scowled at the narrow way 
Where, wallowing in a pool of blood, 

The bravest Tuscans lay. 

LIII 

But meanwhile axe and lever 

Have manfully been plied ; 
And now the bridge hangs tottering 

Above the boiling tide. 
" Come back, come back, Horatius ! " 

Loud cried the Fathers all. 
" Back, Lartius ! back, Herminius ! 

Back, ere the ruin fall ! " 

LIV 

Back darted Spurius Lartius ; 

Herminius darted back : 
And, as they passed, beneath their feet 

They felt the timbers crack. 



20 THE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME 

But when they turned their faces. 
And on the farther shore 

Saw brave Horatius stand alone, 
They would have crossed once more. 

LV 

But with a crash like thunder 

Fell every loosened beam, 
And, like a dam, the mighty wreck 

Lay right athwart the stream ; 
And a long shout of triumph 

Rose from the walls of Rome, 
As to the highest turret-tops 

Was splashed the yellow foam, 

LVI 

And, like a horse unbroken 
When first he feels the rein, 

The furious river struggled hard, 
And tossed his tawny mane, 

And burst the curb, and bounded. 

Rejoicing to be free, 

And whirHng down, in fierce care 
Battlement, and plank, and pier. 

Rushed headlong to the sea. 

LVII 

Alone stood brave Horatius, 
But constant still in mind ; 

Thrice thirty thousand foes before 
And the broad flood behind. 




Alone stood brave Horai 



HORATIUS 21 

" Down with him ! " cried false Sextus, 

With a smile on his pale face. 
*'Now yield thee," cried Lars Porsena, 

" Now yield thee to our grace." 

LVIII 

Round turned he, as not deigning 

Those craven ranks to see ; 
Nought spake he to Lars Porsena, 

To Sextus nought spake he ; 
But he saw on Palatinus 

The white porch of his home ; 
And he spake to the noble river 

That rolls by the towers of Rome. 

LIX 

" Oh, Tiber ! father Tiber ! 

To whom the Romans pray, 
A Roman's life, a Roman's arms, 

Take thou in charge this day ! " 
So he spake, and speaking sheathed 

The good sword by his side, 
And with his harness on his back, 

Plunged headlong in the tide. 

LX 

No sound of joy or sorrow 

Was heard from either bank ; 
But friends and foes, in dumb surprise. 
With parted lips and straining eyes* 

Stood gazing where he sank ; 



22 THE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME 

And when above the surges 

They saw his crest appear, 
All Rome sent forth a rapturous cry, 
And even the ranks of Tuscany 

Could scarce forbear to cheer. 

LXI 

But fiercely ran the current, 

Swollen high by months of rain : 
And fast his blood was flowing, 

And he was sore in pain, 
And heavy with his armour. 

And spent with changing blows : 
And oft they thought him sinking. 

But still again he rose. 

LXII 

Never, I ween, did swimmer. 

In such an evil case. 
Struggle through such a raging flood 

Safe to the landing-place : 
But his limbs were borne up bravely 

By the brave heart within, 
And our good father Tiber 

Bore bravely up his chin.* 

*" Our ladye bare upp her chinne." 

" Ballad of Childe Waters.' 
" Never heavier man and horse 
Stemmed a midnight torrent's force ; 

****** 

Yet, through good heart and our Lady's grace, 
At length he gained the landing-place." 

" Lay of the Last Minstrel," L 



HORATIUS 23 

LXIII 

" Curse on him ! " quoth false Sextus ; 

"Will not the villain drown? 
But for this stay, ere close of day 

We should have sacked the town ! " 
*' Heaven help him ! " quoth Lars Porsena, 

" And bring him safe to shore ; 
For such a gallant feat of arms 

Was never seen before." 

LXIV 

And now he feels the bottom ; 

Now on dry earth he stands ; 
Now round him throng the Fathers 

To press his gory hands : 
And now, with shouts and clapping, 

And noise of weeping loud. 
He enters through the River-Gate, 

Borne by the joyous crowd. 



LXV 

They gave him of the corn-land, 

That was of public right, 
As much as two strong oxen 

Could plough from morn till night ; 
And they made a molten image. 

And set it up on high, 
And there it stands unto this day 

To witness if I lie. 



24 THE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME 

LXVI 

It stands in the Comitium, 

Plain for all folk to see ; 
Horatius in his harness, 

Halting upon one knee : 
And underneath is written, 

In letters all of gold. 
How valiantly he kept the bridge, 

In the brave days of old. 

LXVII 

And still his name sounds stirring 

Unto the men of Rome, 
As the trumpet-blast that cries to them 

To charge the Volscian home ; 
And wives still pray to Juno 

For boys with hearts as bold 
As his who kept the bridge so well 

In the brave days of old. 

LXVIII 

And in the nights of winter. 

When the cold north winds blow, 
And the long howling of the wolves 

Is heard amidst the snow; 
When round the lonely cottage 

Roars loud the tempest's din, 
And the good logs of Algidus ^ 

Roar louder yet within ; 

1 A mountain in Latium. 



HORATIUS 25 

LXIX 

When the oldest cask is opened, 

And the largest lamp is lit ; 
When the chestnuts glow in the embers, 

And the kid turns on the spit ; 
When young and old in circle 

Around the firebrands close ; 
When the girls are weaving baskets. 

And the lads are shaping bows ; 

LXX 

When the goodman mends his armour, 

And trims his helmet's plume ; 
When the goodwife's shuttle merrily 

Goes flashing through the loom ; 
With weeping and with laughter 

Still is the story told, 
How well Horatius kept the bridge 

In the brave days of old. 



THE 
BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS^ 

A LAY SUNG AT THE FEAST OF CASTOR AND POLLUX 
ON THE IDES OF QUINTILIS, IN THE YEAR OF THE 
CITY CCCCLI 



Ho, trumpets, sound a war-note ! 

Ho, lictors, clear the way ! 
The Knights will ride, in all their pride 

Along the streets to-day. 
To-day the doors and windows 

Are hung with garlands all. 
From Castor in the Forum, 

To Mars without the wall. 
Each Knight is robed in purple, 

With olive each is crowned ; 
A gallant war-horse under each 

Paws haughtily the ground. 
While flows the Yellow River,^ 

While stands the Sacred Hill,^ 
The proud Ides of Quintilis 

Shall have such honour still. 

1 In Latium. 2 The Tiber. 

3 A hill outside Rome, where the plebeians met. 
26 



THE BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS 27 

Gay are the Martian Kalends : 

December's Nones are gay : 
But the proud Ides, when the squadron rides, 

Shall be Rome's whitest day. 



Unto the Great Twin Brethren 

We keep this solemn feast. 
Swift, swift, the Great Twin Brethren 

Came spurring from the east. 
They came o'er wild Parthenius ^ 

Tossing in waves of pine, 
O'er Cirrha's^ dome, o'er Adria's ^ foam. 

O'er purple Apennine, 
From where with flutes and dances 

Their ancient mansion rings, 
In lordly Lacedaemon,'' 

The city of two kings. 
To where, by Lake Regillus, 

Under the Porcian height. 
All in the lands of Tusculum,^ 

Was fought the glorious fight. 



Ill 

Now on the place of slaughter 

Are cots and sheepfolds seen. 
And rows of vines, and fields of wheat. 

And apple-orchards green ; 

4 //^ '"°'''l^''" r ^'""""- ' ^ '^y ^" ^'''''- ' The Adriatic Sea. 
4 A famous Greek city. 5 a town near Rome. 



28 THE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME 

The swine crush the big acorns 

That fall from Corne's oaks. 
Upon the turf by the Fair Fount 

The reaper's pottage smokes. 
The fisher baits his angle ; 

The hunter twangs his bow ; 
Little they think on those strong limbs 

That moulder deep below. 
Little they think how sternly 

That day the trumpets pealed ; 
How in the slippery swamp of blood 

Warrior and war-horse reeled ; 
How wolves came with fierce gallop, 

And crows on eager wings, 
To tear the flesh of captains. 

And peck the eyes of kings ; 
How thick the dead lay scattered 

Under the Porcian height ; 
How through the gates of Tusculum 

Raved the wild stream of flight ; 
And how the Lake Regillus 

Bubbled with crimson foam, 
What time the Thirty Cities 

Came forth to war with Rome. 

IV 

But, Roman, when thou standest 
Upon that holy ground. 

Look thou with heed on the dark rock 
That girds the dark lake round. 

So shalt thou see a hoof-mark 



THE BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS 29 

Stamped deep into the flint : 
It was no hoof of mortal steed 

That made so strange a dint : 
There to the Great Twin Brethren 

Vow thou thy vows, and pray 
That they, in tempest and in fight, 

Will keep thy head alway. 



Since last the Great Twin Brethren 

Of mortal eyes were seen, 
Have years gone by an hundred 

And fourscore and thirteen. 
That summer a Virginius 

Was consul first in place ; 
The second was stout Aulus, 

Of the Posthumian race. 
The Herald of the Latines 

From Gabii ^ came in state : 
The Herald of the Latines 

Passed through Rome's Eastern Gate ; 
The Herald of the Latines 

Did in our Forum stand ; 
And there he did his office, 

A sceptre in his hand. 



VI 



" Hear, Senators and people 

Of the good town of Rome 
The Thirty Cities charge you 

1 In Latium, near Rome. 



30 THE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME 

To bring the Tarquins home : 
And if ye still be stubborn, 

To work the Tarquins wrong. 
The Thirty Cities warn you, 

Look that your walls be strong." 

VII 

Then spake the Consul Aulus, 

He spake a bitter jest : 
" Once the jays sent a message 

Unto the eagle's nest : — 
Now yield thou up thine eyrie 

Unto the carrion-kite. 
Or come forth valiantly, and face 

The jays in deadly fight. — 
Forth looked in wrath the eagle ; 

And carrion-kite and jay, 
Soon as they saw his beak and claw. 

Fled screaming far away." 

VIII 

The Herald of the La tines 

Hath hied him back in state : 
The Fathers of the City 

Are met in high debate. 
Then spake the elder Consul, 

An ancient man and wise : 
" Now hearken. Conscript Fathers, 

To that which I advise. 
In seasons of great peril 

'Tis good that one bear sway ; 



THE BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS 31 

Then choose me a Dictator, 

Whom all men shall obey. 
Camerium^ knows how deeply 

The sword of Aulus bites 
And all our city calls him 

The man of seventy fights. 
Then let him be Dictator 

For six months and no more, 
And have a master of the Knights, 

And axes twenty-four." 

IX 

So Aulus was Dictator, 

The man of seventy fights ; 
He made ^butius Elva 

His Master of the Knights. 
On the third morn thereafter. 

At dawning of the day. 
Did Aulus and ^butius 

Set forth with their array. 
Sempronius Atratinus 

Was left in charge at home 
With boys, and with grey-headed men. 

To keep the walls of Rome. 
Hard by the Lake Regillus 

Our camp was pitched at night : 
Eastward a mile the Latines lay, 

Under the Porcian height. 
Far over hill and valley 

Their mighty host was spread ; 
1 In Latium. 



32 THE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME 

And with their thousand watch-fires 
The midnight sky was red. 

X 

Up rose the golden morning 

Over the Porcian height, 
The proud Ides of Quintihs 

Marked evermore with white. 
Not without secret trouble 

Our bravest saw the foes ; 
For girt by threescore thousand spears, 

The thirty standards rose. 
From every warlike city 

That boasts the Latian name, 
Foredoomed to dogs and vultures, 

That gallant army came ; 
From Setia's ^ purple vineyards, 

From Norba's ^ ancient wall, 
From the white streets of Tusculum, 

The proudest town of all ; 
From where the Witch's Fortress ^ 

O'erhangs the dark-blue seas ; 
From the still glassy lake that sleeps 

Beneath Aricia's ^ trees — 
Those trees in whose dim shadow 

The ghastly priest doth reign. 
The priest who slew the slayer. 

And shall himself be slain ; 
From the drear banks of Ufens,^ 

1 In Latium. 

2 A promontory on the coast of Latium ; named for the witch Circe who 
fled there from Greece. 



THE BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS 33 

Where flights of marsh- fowl play, 
And buffaloes lie wallowing 

Through the hot summer's day ; 
From the gigantic watch-towers, 

No work of earthly men, 
Whence Cora's ^ sentinels o'erlook 

The never-ending fen ; 
From the Laurentian ^ jungle, 

The wild hog's reedy home ; 
From the green steeps whence Anio ^ leaps 

In floods of snow-white foam. 



XI 



Alicia, Cora, Norba, 

Velitrse,^ with the might 
Of Setia and of Tusculum, 

Were marshalled on the right : 
The leader was Mamilius, 

Prince of the Latian name ; 
Upon his head a helmet 

Of red gold shone like flame ; 
High on a gallant charger 

Of dark-grey hue he rode ; 
Over his gilded armour 

A vest of purple flowed, 
Woven in the land of sunrise 

1 In Latium. 

2 Wild country near Laurentum, on the coast of Latium. 

3 An important tributary to the Tiber. 



34 THE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME 

By Syria's dark-browed daughters, 
And by the sails of Carthage brought 
Far o'er the southern waters. 



XII 



Lavinium ^ and Laurentum ^ 

Had on the left their post, 
With all the banners of the marsh, 

And banners of the coast. 
Their leader was false Sextus, 

That wrought the deed of shame : 
With restless pace and haggard face 

To his last field he came.' 
Men said he saw strange visions 

Which none beside might see, 
And that strange sounds were in his ears 

Which none might hear but he. 
A woman fair and stately, 

But pale as are the dead. 
Oft through the watches of the night 

Sat spinning by his bed. 
And as she pUed the distaff. 

In a sweet voice and low 
She sang of great old houses, 

And fights fought long ago. 
So spun she, and so sang she. 

Until the east was grey. 
Then pointed to her bleeding breast, 

And shrieked and fled away. 

1 In Latium. 



THE BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS 35 

XIII 

But in the centre thickest 

Were ranged the shields of foes, 
And from the centre loudest 

The cry of battle rose. 
There Tibur ^ marched and Pedum ^ 

Beneath proud Tarquin's rule, 
And Ferentinum ^ of the rock, 

And Gabii of the pool. 
There rode the Volscian * succours : 

There, in a dark stern ring, 
The Roman exiles gathered close 

Around the ancient king. 
Though white as Mount Socrate,^ 

When winter nights are long. 
His beard flowed down o'er mail and belt. 

His heart and hand were strong : 
Under his hoary eyebrows 

Still flashed forth quenchless rage : 
And, if the lance shook in his gripe, 

'Twas more with hate than age. 
Close at his side was Titus 

On an Apulian*' steed, 
Titus, the youngest Tarquin, 

Too good for such a breed. 

1 A famous town in Latium ; modern Tivoli. 

2 In Latium, 

3 In Etruria. 

4 The Volscians were a strong tribe dwelling in Latium, 
6 In Etruria; immortalized by Horace. 

6 Apulia was a district in southeastern Italy. 



36 THE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME 

XIV 

Now on each side the leaders 

Give signal for the charge ; 
And on each side the footmen 

Strode on with lance and targe ; 
And on each side the horsemen 

Struck their spurs deep in gore 
And front to front the armies 

Met with a mighty roar : 
And under that great battle 

The earth with blood was red ; 
And, like the Pomptine ^ fog at morn, 

The dust hung overhead ; 
And louder still and louder 

Rose from the darkened field 
The braying of the war-horns, 

The clang of sword and shield. 
The rush of squadrons sweeping 

Like whirlwinds o'er the plain. 
The shouting of the slayers, 

And screeching of the slain. 

xv 

False Sextus rode out foremost, 

His look was high and bold ; 
His corselet was of bison's hide, 

Plated with steel and gold. 
As glares the famished eagle 

1 The Pontine Marshes in Latium have been notorious for unhealthful 
vapors. 



THE BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS 37 

From the Digentian ^ rock 
On a choice lamb that bounds alone 

Before Bandusia's ^ flock, 
Herminius glared on Sextus, 

And came with eagle speed, 
Herminius on black Auster, 

Brave champion on brave steed ; 
In his right hand the broadsword 

That kept the bridge so well, 
And on his helm the crown he won 

When proud Fidenae fell. 
Woe to the maid whose lover 

Shall cross his path to-day ! 
False Sextus saw, and trembled, 

And turned and fled away. 
As turns, as flies the woodman 

In the Calabrian^ brake. 
When through the reeds gleams the round eye 

Of that fell speckled snake ; 
So turned, so fled, false Sextus, 

And hid him in the rear. 
Behind the dark Lavinian ranks, 

Bristhng with crest and spear. 



XVI 

But far to north ^butius, 

The Master of the Knights, 
Gave Tubero of Norba 

1 Digentla was a stream, in Sabini, associated with Horace. 

2 Bandusia was a fountain, in Apulia, near the birthplace of Horace- 

3 A district in lower Italy. 



38 THE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME 

To feed the Porcian kites. 
Next under those red horse-hoofs 

Flaccus of Setia lay ; 
Better had he been pruning 

Among his elms that day. 
Mamilius saw the slaughter, 

And tossed his golden crest, 
And towards the Master of the Knights 

Through the thick battle pressed. 
^/Ebutius smote Mamilius 

So fiercely on the shield 
That the great lord of Tusculum 

Well nigh rolled on the field. 
Mamilius smote ^butius. 

With a good aim and true, 
Just where the neck and shoulder join 

And pierced him through and through ; 
And brave ^butius Elva 

Fell swooning to the ground : 
But a thick wall of bucklers 

Encompassed him around. 
His clients from the battle 

Bare him some little space, 
And filled a helm from the dark lake, 

And bathed his brow and face ; 
And when at last he opened 

His swimming eyes to light. 
Men say, the earliest word he spake 

Was, " Friends, how goes the fight ? " 



THE BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS 39 

XVII 

But meanwhile in the centre 

Great deeds of arms were wrought ; 
There Aulus the Dictator 

And there Valerius fought. 
Aulus with his good broadsword 

A bloody passage cleared 
To where, amidst the thickest foes, 

He saw the long white beard. 
Flat lighted that good broadsword 

Upon proud Tarquin's head. 
He dropped the lance : he dropped the reins : 

He fell as fall the dead. 
Down Aulus springs to slay him, 

With eyes like coals of fire ; 
But faster Titus hath sprung down. 

And hath bestrode his sire. 
Latian captains, Roman knights. 

Fast down to earth they spring. 
And hand to hand they fight on foot 

Around the ancient king. 
First Titus gave tall Caeso 

A death-wound in the face ; 
Tall Caeso was the bravest man 

Of the brave Fabian race : 
Aulus slew Rex of Gabii, 

The priest of Juno's shrine ; 
Valerius smote down Julius, 

Of Rome's great JuHan line ; 
Julius, who left his mansion 

High on the Velian hill. 



40 THE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME 

And through all turns of weal and woe 

Followed proud Tarquin still. 
Now right across proud Tarquin 

A corpse was Julius laid ; 
And Titus groaned with rage and grief, 

And at Valerius made. 
Valerius struck at Titus, 

And lopped off half his crest ; 
But Titus stabbed Valerius 

A span deep in the breast. 
Like a mast snapped by the tempest, 

Valerius reeled and fell. 
Ah ! woe is me for the good house 

That loves the people well ! 
Then shouted loud the Latines ; 

And with one rush they bore 
The struggling Romans backward 

Three lances' length and more : 
And up they took proud Tarquin, 

And laid him on a shield. 
And four strong yeomen bare him, 

Still senseless from the field. 



XVIII 

But fiercer grew the fighting 

Around Valerius dead ; 
For Titus dragged him by the foot, 

And Aulus by the head. 
" On, Latines, on ! " quoth Titus, 

*' See how the rebels fly ! " 



THE BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS 41 

" Romans, stand firm ! " quoth Aulus, 

" And win this fight, or die ! 
They must not give Valerius 

To raven and to kite ; 
For aye Valerius loathed the wrong. 

And aye upheld the right ; 
And for your wives and babies 

In the front rank he fell. 
Now play the men for the good house 

That loves the people well ! " 

XIX 

Then tenfold round the body 

The roar of battle rose. 
Like the roar of a burning forest, 

When a strong north wind blows. 
Now backward, and now forward, 

Rocked furiously the fray, 
Till none could see Valerius, 

And none wist where he lay. 
For shivered arms and ensigns 

Were heaped there in a mound. 
And corpses stiff, and dying men 

That writhed and gnawed the ground ; 
And wounded horses kicking, 

And snorting purple foam : 
Right well did such a couch befit 

A Consular of Rome. 

XX 

But north looked the Dictator ; 
North looked he long and hard j 



42 THE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME 

And spake to Caius Cossus, 
The Captain of his Guard ; 

*' Caius, of all the Romans 
Thou hast the keenest sight ; 

Say, what through yonder storm of dust 
Comes from the Latian right?" 

XXI 

Then answered Caius Cossus, 

" I see an evil sight ; 
The banner of proud Tusculum 

Comes from the Latian right ; 
I see the plumed horsemen ; 

And far before the rest 
I see the dark-grey charger, 

I see the purple vest ; 
I see the golden helmet 

That shines far off like flame ; 
So ever rides Mamilius, 

Prince of the Latian name." 

XXII 

*' Now hearken, Caius Cossus : 
Spring on thy horse's back ; 

Ride as the wolves of Apennine 
Were all upon thy track ; 

Haste to our southward battle : 
And never draw thy rein 

Until thou find Herminius, 
, And bid him come amain." 



THE BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS 



43 



xxm 



So Aulus spake, and turned him 

Again to that fierce strife ; 
And Caius Cossus mounted, 

And rode for death and Hfe. 
Loud clanged beneath his horse-hoofs 

The helmets of the dead, 
And many a curdling pool of blood 

Splashed him from heel to head. 
So came he far to southward. 

Where fought the Roman host. 
Against the banners of the marsh 

And banners of the coast. 
Like corn before the sickle 

The stout Lavinians fell, 
Beneath the edge of the true sword 

That kept the bridge so well. 



XXIV 



" Herminius ! Aulus greets thee ; 

He bids thee come with speed, 
To help our central battle. 

For sore is there our need ; 
There wars the youngest Tarquin, 

And there the Crest of Flame, 
The Tusculan Mamilius, 

Prince of the Latian name. 
Valerius hath fallen fighting 

In front of our array ; 
And Aulus of the seventy fields 

Alone upholds the day." 



44 THE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME 

XXV 

Herminius beat his bosom : 

But never a word he spake. 
He clasped his hand on Auster's mane 

He gave the reins a shake. 
Away, away, went Auster, 

Like an arrow from the bow : 
Black Auster was the fleetest steed 

From Aufidus ^ to Po.^ 

XXVI 

Right glad were all the Romans 

Who, in that hour of dread. 
Against great odds bare up the war 

Around Valerius dead. 
When from the south the cheering 

Rose with a mighty swell ; 
" Herminius comes, Herminius, 

Who kept the bridge so well ! " 

XXVII 

Mamilius spied Herminius, 

And dashed across the way. 
" Herminius ! I have sought thee 

Through many a bloody day. 
One of us two, Herminius, 

Shall never more go home. 
I will lay on for Tusculum, 

And lay thou on for Rome ! " 

1 A river in Apulia. 

2 The largest river in northern Italy. 



THE BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS 45 

XXVIII 

All round them paused the battle, 

While met in mortal fray 
The Roman and the Tusculan, 

The horses black and grey. 
Herminius smote Mamilius 

Through breast-plate and through breast ; 
And fast flowed out the purple blood 

Over the purple vest. 
Mamilius smote Herminius 

Through head- piece and through head, 
And side by side those chiefs of pride 

Together fell down dead. 
Down fell they dead together 

In a great lake of gore : 
And still stood all who saw them fall 

While men might count a score. 

XXIX 

Fast, fast, with heels wild spurning. 

The dark-grey charger fled : 
He burst through ranks of fighting men. 

He sprang o'er heaps of dead. 
His bridle far out-streaming, 

His flanks all blood and foam. 
He sought the southern mountains. 

The mountains of his home. 
The pass was steep and rugged, 

The wolves they howled and whined ; 
But he ran Hke a whirlwind up the pass. 

And he left the wolves behind. 



46 THE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME 

Through many a startled hamlet 

Thundered his flying feet ; 
He rushed through the gate of Tusculum, 

He rushed up the long white street ; 
He rushed by tower and temple, 

And paused not from his race 
Till he stood before his master's door « 

In the stately market-place. 
And straightway round him gathered 

A pale and trembling crowd, 
And when they knew him, cries of rage 

Brake forth, and wailing loud : 
And women rent their tresses 

For their great prince's fall ; 
And old men girt on their old swords, 

And went to man the wall. 



XXX 

But, like a graven image. 

Black Auster kept his place, 
And ever wistfully he looked 

Into his master's face. 
The raven-mane that daily. 

With pats and fond caresses. 
The young Herminia washed and combed, 

And twined in even tresses. 
And decked with coloured ribands 

From her own gay attire. 
Hung sadly o'er her father's corpse 

In carnage and in mire. 



THE BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS 47 

Forth with a shout sprang Titus, 

And seized black Auster's rein. 
Then Aulus sware a fearful oath, 

And ran at him amain. 
" The furies of thy brother 

With me and mine abide, 
If one of your accursed house 

Upon black Auster ride ! " 
As on an Alpine watch-tower 

From heaven comes down the flame^ 
Full on the neck of Titus 

The blade of Aulus came : 
And out the red blood spouted. 

In a wide arch and tall, 
As spouts a fountain in the court 

Of some rich Capuan's ^ hall. 
The knees of all the Latines 

Were loosened with dismay. 
When dead, on dead Herminius, 

The bravest Tarquin lay. 

XXXI 

And Aulus the Dictator 

Stroked Auster's raven mane. 
With heed he looked unto the girths, 

With heed unto the rein. 
" Now bear me well, black Auster, 

Into yon thick array ; 
And thou and I will have revenge 

For thy good lord this day." 
1 Capua was in Campania. 



48 THE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME 

XXXII 

So spake he ; and was buckling 

Tighter black Auster's band, 
When he was aware of a princely pair 

That rode at his right hand. 
So Hke they were, no mortal 

Might one from other know ; 
White as snow their armour was ; 

Their steeds were white as snow. 
Never on earthly anvil 

Did such rare armour gleam : 
And never did such gallant steeds 

Drink of an earthly stream. 

XXXIII 

And all who saw them trembled, 

And pale grew every cheek ; 
And Aulus the Dictator 

Scarce gathered voice to speak. 
" Say by what name men call you ? 

What city is your home? 
And wherefore ride ye in such guise 

Before the ranks of Rome?" 

xxxiv 

" By many names men call us ; 

In many lands we dwell : 
Well Samothracia^ knows us; 

Cyrene ^ knows us well. 
Our house in gay Tarentum ^ 
1 An island, in Greece. 2 in northern Africa. sin Calabria. 



THE BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS 49 

Is hung each morn with flowers : 
High o'er the masts of Syracuse ^ 

Our marble portal towers ; 
But by the proud Eurotas ^ 

Is our dear native home ; 
And for the right we come to fight 

Before the ranks of Rome." 

XXXV 

So answered those strange horsemen, 

And each couched low his spear ; 
And forthwith all the ranks of Rome 

Were bold, and of good cheer : 
And on the thirty armies 

Came wonder and aifright, 
And Ardea wavered on the left, 

And Cora on the right. 
" Rome to the charge ! " cried Aulus ; 

" The foe begins to yield ! 
Charge for the hearth of Vesta ! 

Charge for the Golden Shield ! 
Let no man stop to plunder. 

But slay, and slay, and slay ; 
The gods who live forever 

Are on our side to-day." 

xxxvi 

Then the fierce trumpet-flourish 
From earth to heaven arose, 

1 In Sicily. 

2 The Greek river on which Sparta was built. 



50 THE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME 

The kites know well the long stern swell 

That bids the Romans close. 
Then the good sword of Aulus 

Was lifted up to slay : 
Then, like a crag down Apennine, 

Rushed Auster through the fray. 
But under those strange horsemen 

Still thicker lay the slain ; 
And after those strange horses 

Black Auster toiled in vain. 
Behind them Rome's long battle 

Came rolling on the foe, 
Ensigns dancing wild above, 

Blades all in line below. 
So comes the Po in flood-time 

Upon the Celtic plain : 
So comes the squall, blacker than night, 

Upon the Adrian main. 
Now by our sire Quirinus, 

It was a goodly sight 
To see the thirty standards 

Swept down the tide of flight. 
So flies the spray of Adria 

When the black squall doth blow. 
So corn-sheaves in the flood-time 

Spin down the whirling Po. 
False Sextus to the mountains 

Turned first his horse's head ; 
And fast fled Ferentinum, 

And fast Lanuvium fled. 
The horsemen of Nomentum 



THE BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS 51 

Spurred hard out of the fray ; 
The footmen of Velitrae 

Threw shield and spear away. 
And underfoot was trampled, 

Amidst the mud and gore, 
The banner of proud Tusculum, 

That never stooped before : ' 

And down went Flavins Faustus, 

Who led his stately ranks 
From where the apple blossoms wave 

On Anio's echoing banks, 
And Tullus of Arpinum, 

Chief of the Volscian aids. 
And Metius with the long fair curls. 

The love of Anxur's maids. 
And the white head of Vulso, 

The great Arician seer. 
And Nepos of Laurentum, 

The hunter of the deer ; 
And in the back false Sextus 

Felt the good Roman steel, 
And wriggling in the dust he died, 

Like a worm beneath the wheel : 
And fliers and pursuers 

Were mingled in a mass ; 
And far away the battle 

Went roaring through the pass. 

xxxvii 

Sempronius Atratinus 
Sat in the Eastern Gate, 



52 THE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME 

Beside him were three Fathers, 

Each in his chair of state ; 
Fabius, whose nine stout grandsons 

That day were in the field, 
And Manhus, eldest of the Twelve 

Who keep the Golden Shield ; 
And Sergius, the High Pontiff, 

For wisdom far renowned ; 
In all Etruria's colleges 

Was no such Pontiff found. 
And all around the portal, 

And high above the wall, 
Stood a great throng of people, 

But sad and silent all ; 
Young lads, and stooping elders 

That might not bear the mail. 
Matrons with lips that quivered. 

And maids with faces pale. 
Since the first gleam of dayhght, 

Sempronius had not ceased 
To Hsten for the rushing 

Of horse-hoofs from the east. 
The mist of eve was rising. 

The sun was hastening down. 
When he was aware of a princely pair 

Fast pricking towards the town. 
So like they were, man never 

Saw twins so like before ; 
Red with gore their armour was. 

Their steeds were red with gore. 



THE BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS 53 

XXXVIII 

" Hail to the great Asylum ! 

Hail to the hill-tops seven ! 
Hail to the fire that burns for aye, 

And the shield that fell from heaven ! 
This day, by Lake Regillus, 

Under the Porcian height. 
All in the lands of Tusculum 

Was fought a glorious fight. 
To-morrow your Dictator 

Shall bring in triumph home 
The spoils of thirty cities 

To deck the shrines of Rome ! " 

XXXIX 

Then burst from that great concourse 

A shout that shook the towers, 
And some ran north, and some ran south, 

Crying, " The day is ours ! " 
But on rode these strange horsemen. 

With slow and lordly pace ; 
And none who saw their bearing 

Durst ask their name or race. 
On rode they to the Forum, 

While laurel-boughs and flowers, 
From house-tops and from windows 

Fell on their crests in showers. 
When they drew nigh to Vesta, 

They vaulted down amain. 
And washed their horses in the well 

That springs by Vesta's fane. 



54 THE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME 

And straight again they mounted, 
And rode to Vesta's door ; 

Then, Hke a blast, away they passed, 
And no man saw them more. 

XL 

And all the people trembled, 

And pale grew every cheek ; 
And Sergius the High Pontiff 

Alone found voice to speak : 
"The gods who live forever 

Have fought for Rome to-day ! 
These be the Great Twin Brethren 

To whom the Dorians pray. 
Back comes the Chief in triumph, 

Who, in the hour of fight, 
Hath seen the Great Twin Brethren 

In harness on his right. 
Safe comes the ship to haven. 

Through billows and through gales, 
If once the Great Twin Brethren 

Sit shining on the sails. 
Wherefore they washed their horses 

In Vesta's holy well, 
Wherefore they rode to Vesta's door, 

I know, but may not tell. 
Here, hard by Vesta's Temple, 

Build we a stately dome 
Unto the Great Twin Brethren 

Who fought so well for Rome. 
And when the months returning 



THE BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS 55 

Bring back this day of fight, 
The proud Ides of QuintiHs, 

Marked evermore with white, 
Unto the Great Twin Brethren 

Let all the people throng, 
With chaplets and with offerings, 

With music and with song ; 
And let the doors and windows 

Be hung with garlands all, 
And let the knights be summoned 

To Mars without the wall : 
Thence let them ride in purple 

With joyous trumpet-sound. 
Each mounted on his war-horse, 

And each with olive crowned ; 
And pass in solemn order 

Before the sacred dome. 
Where dwell the Great Twin Brethren 

Who fought so well for Rome." 



VIRGINIA 

FRAGMENTS OF A LAY SUNG IN THE FORUM ON THE 
DAY WHEREON LUCIUS SEXTIUS SEXTINUS LATE- 
RANUS AND CAIUS LICINIUS CALVUS STOLO WERE 
ELECTED TRIBUNES OF THE COMMONS THE FIFTH 
TIME, IN THE YEAR OF THE CITY CCCLXXXII 

Ye good men of the Commons, with loving hearts and true, 
Who stand by the bold Tribunes that still have stood by 

you, 
Come, make a circle round me, and mark my tale with 

care, 
A tale of what Rome once hath borne, of what Rome yet 

may bear. 
5 This is no Grecian fable, of fountains running wine. 
Of maids with snaky tresses, or sailors turned to swine. 
Here, in this very Forum, under the noonday sun. 
In sight of all the people, the bloody deed was done. 
Old men still creep among us who saw that fearful day, 
JO Just seventy years and seven ago, when the wicked Ten 

bare sway. 

Of all the wicked Ten still the names are held accursed, 
And of all the wicked Ten Appius Claudius was the 

worst. 
He stalked along the Forum like King Tarquin in his 

pride : 

56 



VIRGINIA 57 

Twelve axes waited on him, six marching on a side ; 

The townsmen shrank to right and left, and eyed askance 15 

with fear 
His lowering brow, his curling mouth which always seemed 

to sneer : 
That brow of hate, that mouth of scorn, marks all the 

kindred still ; 
For never was there Claudius yet but wished the Commons 

ill; 
Nor lacks he fit attendance ; for close behind his heels, 
With outstretched chin and crouching pace, the client 20 

Marcus steals. 
His loins girt up to run with speed, be the errand what 

it may, 
And the smile flickering on his cheek, for aught his lord 

may say 
Such varlets pimp and jest for hire among the lying 

Greeks : 
Such varlets still are paid to hoot when brave Licinius 

speaks. 
Where'er ye shed the honey, the buzzing flies will 25 

crowd j 
Where'er ye fling the carrion, the raven's croak is loud ; 
Where'er down Tiber garbage floats, the greedy pike ye 

see; 
And whereso'er such lord is found, such client still will be. 
Just then, as through one cloudless chink in a black 

stormy sky 
Shines out the dewy morning-star, a fair young girl came by. 30 
With her small tablets in her hand, and her satchel on 

her arm, 



58 THE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME 

Home she went bounding from the school, nor dreamed 

of shame or harm ; 
And past those dreaded axes she innocently ran, 
With bright, frank brow that had not learned to blush at 

gaze of man ; 
35 And up the Sacred Street she turned, and, as she danced 

along. 
She warbled gayly to herself lines of the good old song, 
How for a sport the princes came spurring from the 

camp. 
And found Lucrece, combing the fleece, under the midnight 

lamp. 
The maiden sang as sings the lark, when up he darts his 

flight, 
40 From his nest in the green April corn, to meet the morn- 
ing light ; 
And Appius heard her sweet young voice, and saw her sweet 

young face. 
And loved her with the accursed love of his accursed 

race, 
And all along the Forum, and up the Sacred Street, 
His vulture eye pursued the trip of those small glancing 

feet. 

******* 

45 Over the Alban mountains the light of morning broke ; 
From all the roofs of the Seven Hills curled the thin wreaths 

of smoke : 
The city-gates were opened ; the Forum all alive, 
With buyers and with sellers, was humming like a hive : 
Blithely on brass and timber the craftsman's stroke was 

ringing, 



VIRGINIA 59 

And blithely o'er her panniers the market-girl was 5° 

singing, 
And blithely young Virginia came smihng from her 

home : 
Ah ! woe for young Virginia, the sweetest maid in Rome ! 
With her small tablets in her hand, and her satchel on her 

arm, 
Forth she went bounding to the school, nor dreamed of 

shame or harm. 
She crossed the Forum shining with stalls in alleys gay, ss 

And just had reached the very spot whereon I stand this 

day. 
When up the varlet Marcus came ; not such as when ere- 

while 
He crouched behind his patron's heels with the true client 

smile : 
He came with lowering forehead, swollen features and 

clenched fist, 
And strode across Virginia's path, and caught her by the 60 

wrist. 
Hard strove the frighted maiden, and screamed with look 

aghast ; 
And at her scream from right and left the folk came run- 
ning fast. 
The money-changer Crispus, with his thin silver hairs, 
And Hanno from the stately booth glittering with Punic 

wares, 
And the strong smith Muraena, grasping a half- forged 65 

brand. 
And Volero the flesher, his cleaver in his hand. 
All came in wrath and wonder ; for all knew that fair child ; 



6o THE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME 

And, as she passed them twice a day, all kissed their hands 

and smiled ; 
And the strong smith Mursena gave Marcus such a blow, 
70 The caitiff reeled three paces back, and let the maiden go. 
Yet glared he fiercely round him, and growled in harsh, fell 

tone, 
" She's mine, and I will have her : I seek but for mine own : 
She is my slave, born in my house, and stolen away 

and sold, 
The year of the sore sickness, ere she was twelve hours 

old. 
75 'Twas in the sad September, the month of wail and fright. 
Two augurs were borne forth that morn ; the Consul died 

ere night. 
I wait on Appius Claudius, I waited on his sire : 
Let him who works the chent wrong beware the patron's 

ire ! " 

So spake the varlet Marcus ; and dread and silence came 

80 On all the people at the sound of the great Claudian name. 

For then there was no Tribune to speak the word of 

might. 
Which makes the rich man tremble, and guards the poor 

man's right. 
There was no brave Licinius, no honest Sextius then ; 
But all the city, in great fear, obeyed the wicked Ten. 
85 Yet ere the varlet Marcus again might seize the maid, 
Who clung tight to Mursena's skirt, and sobbed and 

shrieked for aid, 
Forth through the throng of gazers the young Icilius 
pressed, 



VIRGINIA 6i 

And stamped his foot, and rent his gown, and smote upon 

his breast, 
And sprang upon that column, by many a minstrel sung, 
Whereon three mouldering helmets, three rusting swords, 90 

are hung. 
And beckoned to the people, and in bold voice and clear 
Poured thick and fast the burning words which tyrants 

quake to hear. 

" Now, by your children's cradles, now by your fathers' 

graves, 
Be men to-day, Quirites, or be forever slaves ! 
For this did Servius give us laws ? For this did Lucrece 95 

bleed? 
For this was the great vengeance wrought on Tarquin's 

evil seed? 
For this did those false sons make red the axes of their 

sire? 
For this did Scaevola's right hand hiss in the Tuscan fire ? 
Shall the vile fox-earth awe the race that stormed the 

lion's den? 
Shall we, who could not brook one lord, crouch to the 100 

wicked Ten ? 
Oh for that ancient spirit which curbed the Senate's will ! 
Oh for the tents which in old time whitened the Sacred 

Hill! 
In those brave days our fathers stood firmly side by side ; 
They faced the Marcian fury, they tamed the Fabian pride : 
They drove the fiercest Quinctius an outcast forth from 105 

Rome ; 
They sent the haughtiest Claudius with shivered fasces home. 



62 THE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME 

But what their care bequeathed us our madness flung away : 
All the ripe fruit of threescore years was bhghted in a 

day. 
Exult, ye proud Patricians ! The hard-fought fight is o'er, 
no We strove for honours — 'twas in vain; for freedom — 'tis 

no more. 
No crier to the polling summons the eager throng ; 
No tribune breathes the word of might that guards the weak 

from wrong. 
Our very hearts, that were so high, sink down beneath your 

will. 
Riches, and lands, and power, and state — ye have them : — 

keep them still. 
115 Still keep the holy fillets ; still keep the purple gown, 
The axes and the curule chair, the car, and laurel crown : 
Still press us for your cohorts, and, when the fight is 

done. 
Still fill your garners from the soil which our good swords 

have won. 
Still, like a spreading ulcer, which leech-craft may not 

cure, 
120 Let your foul usance eat away the substance of the poor. 
Still let your haggard debtors bear all their fathers bore ; 
Still let your dens of torment be noisome as of yore; 
No fire when Tiber freezes ; no air in dog-star heat ; 
And store of rods for free-born backs, and holes for free-born 

feet. 
125 Heap heavier still the fetters ; bar closer still the grate ; 
Patient as sheep we yield us up unto your cruel hate. 
But, by the Shades beneath us, and by the Gods above. 
Add not unto your cruel hate your yet more cruel love ! 



VIRGINIA 63 

Have ye not graceful ladies, whose spotless lineage springs 
From Consuls, and High Pontiffs, and ancient Alban 130 

kings ? 
Ladies, who deign not on our paths to set their tender 

feet, 
Who from their cars look down with scorn upon the won- 
dering street, 
Who in Corinthian mirrors their own proud smiles behold, 
And breathe of Capuan odours, and shine with Spanish 

gold? 
Then leave the poor Plebeian his single tie to Hfe — 135 

The sweet, sweet love of daughter, of sister, and of 

wife. 
The gentle speech, the balm for all that his vexed soul 

endures. 
The kiss, in which he half forgets even such a yoke as 

yours. 
Still let the maiden's beauty swell the father's breast with 

pride ; 
Still let the bridegroom's arms infold an unpolluted bride. 140 
Spare us the inexpiable wrong, the unutterable shame. 
That turns the coward's heart to steel, the sluggard's blood to 

flame, 
Lest, when our latest hope is fled, ye taste of our despair. 
And learn by proof, in some wild hour, how much the 

wretched dare." 

******* 

Straightway Virginius led the maid a little space 145 
aside. 
To where the reeking shambles stood, piled up with horn 
and hide. 



64 THE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME 

Close to yon low dark archway, where, in a crimson flood, 
Leaps down to the great sewer the gurgling stream of 

blood. 
Hard by, a flesher on a block had laid his whittle down ; 
^oVirginius caught the whittle up, and hid it in his gown. 
And then his eyes grew very dim, and his throat began to 

swell, 
And in a hoarse, changed voice he spake, " Farewell, sweet 

child ! Farewell ! 
Oh ! how I loved my darling ! Though stern I some- 
times be. 
To thee, thou know'st, I was not so. Who could be so to 

thee? 
155 And how my darling loved me ! How glad she was to 

hear 
My footstep on the threshold when I came back last 

year ! 
And how she danced with pleasure to see my civic crown. 
And took my sword, and hung it up, and brought me forth 

my gown ! 
Now, all those things are over — yes, all thy pretty ways, 
i6oThy needle work, thy prattle, thy snatches of old lays ; 
And none will grieve when I go forth, or smile when I 

return, 
Or watch beside the old man's bed, or weep upon his urn. 
The house that was the happiest within the Roman walls, 
The house that envied not the wealth of Capua's marble 

halls, 
165 Now, for the brightness of thy smile, must have eternal 

gloom. 
And for the music of thy voice, the silence of the tomb. 



VIRGINIA 65 

The time is come. See how he points his eager hand 

this way ! 
See how his eyes gloat on thy grief, like a kite's upon 

the prey ! 
With all his wit, he Httle deems, that, spurned, betrayed, 

bereft. 
Thy father hath in his despair one fearful refuge left. 170 
He little deems that in this hand I clutch what still can 

save 
Thy gentle youth from taunts and blows, the portion of the 

slave ; 
Yea, and from nameless evil, that passeth taunt and 

blow — 
Foul outrage which thou knowest not, which thou shalt 

never know. 
Then clasp me round the neck once more, and give me 175 

one more kiss ; 
And now, mine own dear little girl, there is no way but 

this." 
With that he lifted high the steel, and smote her in the 

side, 
And in her blood she sank to earth, and with one sob 

she died. 

» 

Then, for a little moment, all people held their breath ; 
And through the crowded Forum was stillness as of 180 

death ; 
And in another moment brake forth from one and all 
A cry as if the Volscians were coming o'er the wall. 
Some with averted faces shrieking fled home amain ; 
Some ran to call a leech ; and some ran to Hft the slain ; 



66 THE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME 

185 Some felt her lips and little wrist, if life might there be 

found ; 
And some tore up their garments fast, and strove to stanch 

the wound. 
In vain they ran, and felt, and stanched ; for never truer 

blow 
That good right arm had dealt in fight against a Volscian 

foe. 

When Appius Claudius saw that deed, he shuddered 

and sank down, 
190 And hid his face some little space with the corner of his 

gown. 
Till, with white lips and bloodshot eyes, Virginius tottered 

nigh, 
And stood before the judgment-seat, and held the knife 

on high. 
" Oh ! dwellers in the nether gloom, avengers of the slain. 
By this dear blood I cry to you, do right between us 

twain ; 
195 And even as Appius Claudius hath dealt by me and 

mine. 
Deal you by Appius Claudius and all the Claudian line ! " 
So spake the slayer of his child, and turned, and went his 

way; 
But first he cast one haggard glance to where the body 

lay, 
And writhed, and groaned a fearful groan, and then, with 

steadfast feet, 
200 Strode right across the market-place unto the Sacred 

Street. 



VIRGINIA 67 

Then up sprang Appius Claudius : " Stop him ; alive or 

dead ! 
Ten thousand pounds of copper to the man who brings 

his head." 
He looked upon his clients ; but none would work his will. 
He looked upon his lictors ; but they trembled, and stood 

still. 
And as Virginius through the press his way in silence 205 

cleft, 
Ever the mighty multitude fell back to right and left. 
And he hath passed in safety unto his woeful home, 
And there ta'en horse to tell the camp what deeds are 

done in Rome. 

By this the flood of people was swollen from every side, 

And streets and porches round were filled with that 210 
o'erflowing tide ; 

And close around the body gathered a little train 

Of them that were the nearest and dearest to the slain. 

They brought a bier, and hung it with many a cypress 
crown. 

And gently they uplifted her, and gently laid her down. 

The face of Appius Claudius wore the Claudian scowl and 215 
sneer, 

And in the Claudian note he cried, " What doth this rab- 
ble here? 

Have they no crafts to mind at home, that hitherward 
they stray ? 

Ho ! lictors, clear the market-place, and fetch the corpse 
away !" 

The voice of grief and fury till then had not been loud ; 



68 THE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME 

220 But a deep, sullen murmur wandered among the crowd, 
Like the moaning noise that goes before the whirlwind 

on the deep, 
Or the growl of a fierce watch-dog but half-aroused from 

sleep. 
But when the Hctors at that word, tall yeomen all and 

strong. 
Each with his axe and sheaf of twigs, went down into the 

throng, 
225 Those old men say, who saw that day of sorrow and of 

sin. 
That in the Roman Forum was never such a din. 
The vraiUng, hooting, cursing, the howls of grief and hate, 
Were heard beyond the Pincian Hill, beyond the Latin 

Gate. 
But close around the body, where stood the little train 
230 Of them that were the nearest and dearest to the slain. 
No cries were there, but teeth set fast, low whispers and 

black frowns, 
And breaking up of benches, and girding up of gowns. 
'Twas well the Hctors might not pierce to where the maiden 

lay, 
Else surely had they been all twelve torn limb from limb 

that day. 
235 Right glad they were to struggle back, blood streaming 

from their heads, 
With axes all in splinters, and raiment all in shreds. 
Then Appius Claudius gnawed his lip, and the blood left 

his cheek. 
And thrice he beckoned with his hand, and thrice he strove 

to speak ; 



VIRGINIA 69 

And thrice the tossing Forum set up a frightful yell : 

" See, see, thou dog ! what thou hast done ; and hide thy 240 

shame in hell ! 
Thou that wouldst make our maidens slaves must first make 

slaves of men. 
Tribunes ! Hurrah for Tribunes ! Down with the wicked 

Ten ! " 
And straightway, thick as hailstones, came whizzing through 

the air, 
Pebbles, and bricks, and potsherds, all round the curule 

chair : 
And upon Appius Claudius great fear and trembhng came. 245 
For never was a Claudius yet brave against aught but shame. 
Though the great houses love us not, we own, to do them 

right, 
That the great houses, all save one, have borne them well in 

fight. 
Still Caius of Corioli, his triumphs and his wrongs. 
His vengeance and his mercy, Hve in our camp-fire songs. 250 
Beneath the yoke of Furius oft have Gaul and Tuscan 

bowed ; 
And Rome may bear the pride of him of whom herself is 

proud. 
But evermore a Claudius shrinks from a stricken field. 
And changes colour like a maid at sight of sword and shield. 
The Claudian triumphs all were won within the city towers ; 255 
The Claudian yoke was never pressed on any necks but 

ours. 
A Cossus, like a wild-cat, springs ever at the face ; 
A Fabius rushes like a boar against the shouting chase ; 
But the vile Claudian litter, raging with currish spite. 



70 THE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME 

260 Still yelps and snaps at those who run, still runs from those 

who smite. 
So now 'twas seen of Appius. When stones began to fly, 
He shook, and crouched, and wrung his hands, and smote 

upon his thigh. 
" Kind cHents, honest lictors, stand by me in this fray ! 
Must I be torn in pieces? Home, home, the nearest way ! " 
265 While yet he spake, and looked around with a bewildered 

stare. 
Four sturdy Uctors put their necks beneath the curule 

chair ; 
And fourscore clients on the left, and fourscore on the right. 
Arrayed themselves with swords and staves, and loins girt 

up for fight. 
But, though without or staff or sword, so furious was the 

throng, 
270 That scarce the train with might and main could bring their 

lord along. 
Twelve times the crowd made at him ; five times they seized 

his gown ; 
Small chance was his to rise again, if once they got him 

down : 
And sharper came the pelting ; and evermore the yell — 
" Tribunes ! we will have Tribunes ! " — rose with a louder 

swell : 
275 And the chair tossed as tosses a bark with tattered sail 
When raves the Adriatic beneath an eastern gale, 
When the Calabrian sea-marks are lost in clouds of spume. 
And the great Thunder-Cape ^ has donned his veil of inky 

gloom. 

1 A promontory in Greece opposite Calabria. 



VIRGINIA 71 

One stone hit Appius in the mouth, and one beneath the 

ear ; 
And ere he reached Mount Palatine, he swooned with pain 280 

and fear. 
His cursed head, that he was wont to hold so high with 

pride, 
Now, like a drunken man's, hung down, and swayed from 

side to side ; 
And when his stout retainers had brought him to his door, 
His face and neck were all one cake of filth and clotted 

gore. 
As Appius Claudius was that day, so may his grandson be ! 285 
God send Rome one such other sight, and send me there 

to see ! 

******* 



THE PROPHECY OF CAPYS 

A LAY SUNG AT THE BANQUET IN THE CAPITOL, ON 
THE DAY WHEREON MANIUS CURIUS DENTATUS, A 
SECOND TIME CONSUL, TRIUMPHED OVER KING 
PYRRHUS AND THE TARENTINES, IN THE YEAR OF 
THE CITY CCCCLXXIX 



Now slain is King Amulius, 

Of the great Sylvian line, 
Who reigned in Alba Longa,^ 

On the throne of Aventine. 
Slain is the Pontiff Gamers, 

Who spake the words of doom 
" The children to the Tiber, 

The mother to the tomb." 



In Alba's lake no fisher 

His net to-day is flinging : 
On the dark rind of Alba's oaks 

To-day no axe is ringing : 
The yoke hangs o'er the manger, 

The scythe lies in the hay : 
Through all the Alban villages 

No work is done to-day. 

1 The legendary city, on the Alban Lake, in Latium. 
72 



THE PROPHECY OF CAPYS 73 

III 

And every Alban burgher 

Hath donned his whitest gown ; 
And every head in Alba 

Weareth a poplar crown ; 
And every Alban door-post 

With boughs and flowers is gay ; 
For to-day the dead are living, 

The lost are found to-day. 

IV 

They were doomed by a bloody king : 

They were doomed by a lying priest : 
They were cast on the raging flood : 

They were tracked by the raging beast : 
Raging beast and raging flood 

Alike have spared the prey ; 
And to-day the dead are living : 

The lost are found to-day. 



The troubled river knew them, 

And smoothed his yellow foam. 
And gently rocked the cradle 

That bore the fate of Rome. 
The ravening she-wolf knew them, 

And hcked them o'er and o'er, 
And gave them of her own fierce milk. 

Rich with raw flesh and gore. 
Twenty winters, twenty springs, 



74 THE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME 

Since then have rolled away ; 
And to-day the dead are living : 
The lost are found to-day. 

VI 

BUthe it was to see the twins, 

Right goodly youths and tall, 
Marching from Alba Longa 

To their old grandsire's hall. 
Along their path fresh garlands 

Are hung from tree to tree : 
Before them stride the pipers, 

Piping a note of glee. 

VII 

On the right goes Romulus, 

With arms to the elbows red. 
And in his hand a broadsword. 

And on the blade a head — 
A head in an iron helmet, 

With horse-hair hanging down, 
A shaggy head, a swarthy head. 

Fixed in a ghastly frown — 
The head of King Amulius 

Of the great Sylvian line, 
Who reigned in Alba Longa, 

On the throne of Aventine. 

VIII 

On the left side goes Remus, 
With wrists and fingers red. 



THE PROPHECY OF CAPYS 75 

And in his hand a boar-spear, 

And on the point a head — 
A wrinkled head and aged, 

With silver beard and hair, 
And holy fillets round it, 

Such as the pontiffs wear — 
The head of ancient Gamers, 

Who spake the words of doom : 
'' The children to the Tiber ; 

The mother to the tomb." 



IX 

Two and two behind the twins 

Their trusty comrades go, 
Four and forty vaHant men, 

With club, and axe, and bow. 
On each side every hamlet 

Pours forth its joyous crowd. 
Shouting lads and baying dogs. 

And children laughing loud. 
And old men weeping fondly 

As Rhea's boys go by. 
And maids who shriek to see the heads, 

Yet, shrieking, press more nigh. 



So they marched along the lake ; 

They marched by fold and stall, 
By corn-field and by vineyard, 

Unto the old man's hall. 



76 THE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME 

XI 

In the hall-gate sate Capys, 

Capys, the sightless seer; 
From head to foot he trembled 

As Romulus drew near. 
And up stood stiff his thin white hair, 

And his blind eyes flashed fire : 
" Hail ! foster child of the wonderous nurse ! 

Hail ! son of the wonderous sife ! 

XII 

" But thou — what dost thou here 

In the old man's peaceful hall ? 
What doth the eagle in the coop, 

The bison in the stall? 
Our corn fills many a garner ; 

Our vines clasp many a tree ; 
Our flocks are white on many a hill ; 

But these are not for thee. 

xin 

" For thee no treasure ripens 

In the Tartessian ^ mine : 
For thee no ship brings precious bales 

Across the Libyan ^ brine ; 
Thou shalt not drink from amber ; 

Thou shalt not rest on down ; 
Arabia shall not steep thy locks. 

Nor Sidon ^ tinge thy gown. 

1 Tartessus was in Spain. 2 Libya was in Africa. 

3 In Phoenicia. 



THE PROPHECY OF CAPYS 77 

XIV 

" Leave gold and myrrh and jewels, 

Rich table and soft bed, 
To them who of man's seed are born, 

Whom woman's milk has fed. 
Thou wast not made for lucre, 

For pleasure nor for rest ; 
Thou that art sprung from the War-god's loins, 

And hast tugged at the she-wolf's breast. 

XV 

" From sunrise unto sunset 

All earth shall hear thy fame : 
A glorious city thou shalt build, 

And name it by thy name : 
And there, unquenched through ages, 

Like Vesta's sacred fire, 
Shall live the spirit of thy nurse, 

The spirit of thy sire. 

XVI 

" The ox toils through the furrow, 

Obedient to the goad ; 
The patient ass, up flinty paths, 

Plods with his weary load ; 
With whine and bound the spaniel 

His master's whistle hears ; 
And the sheep yields her patiently 

To the loud clashing shears. 



78 THE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME 

xvn 

" But thy nurse will hear no master ; 

Thy nurse will bear no load ; 
And woe to them that shear her, 

And woe to them that goad ! 
When all the pack, loud baying, 

Her bloody lair surrounds. 
She dies in silence, biting hard, 

Amidst the dying hounds. 

XVIII 

" Pomona loves the orchard ; 

And Liber loves the vine ; 
And Pales loves the straw-built shed 

Warm with the breath of kine ; 
And Venus loves the whispers 

Of phghted youth and maid, 
In April's ivory moonlight 

Beneath the chestnut shade. 

XIX 

" But thy father loves the clashing 

Of broadsword and of shield : 
He loves to drink the stream that reeks 

From the fresh battle-field : 
He smiles a smile more dreadful 

Than his own dreadful frown, 
When he sees the thick black cloud of smoke 

Go up from the conquered town. 



THE PROPHECY OF CAPYS 79 

XX 

" And such as is the War-god, 

The author of thy hne, 
And such as she who suckled thee, 

Even such be thou and thine. 
Leave to the soft Campanian 

His baths and his perfumes ; 
Leave to the sordid race of Tyre 

Their dyeing- vats and looms ; 
Leave to the sons of Carthage 

The rudder and the oar ; 
Leave to the Greek his marble Nymphs 

And scrolls of wordy lore. 

XXI 

" Thine, Roman, is the pilum : 

Roman, the sword is thine. 
The even trench, the bristling mound, 

The legion's ordered Hne ; 
And thine the wheels of triumph. 

Which, with their laurelled train. 
Move slowly up the shouting streets 

To Jove's eternal fane. 



XXII 

" Beneath thy yoke the Volscian 
Shall vail his lofty brow : 

Soft Capua's curled revellers 
Before thy chairs shall bow : 



8o THE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME 

The Lucumoes of Arnus ^ 
Shall quake thy rods to see ; 

And the proud Samnite's heart of steel 
Shall yield to only thee. 

xxin 

" The Gaul shall come against thee 
From the land of snow and night : 

Thou shalt give his fair-haired armies 
To the raven and the kite. 

XXIV 

" The Greek shall come against thee, 

The conqueror of the East. 
Beside him stalks to battle 

The huge earth-shaking beast, 
The beast on whom the castle 

With all its guards doth stand. 
The beast who hath between his eyes 

The serpent for a hand. 
First march the bold Epirotes, 

Wedged close with shield and spear ; 
And the ranks of false Tarentum ^ 

Are glittering in the rear. 

XXV 

" The ranks of false Tarentum 
Like hunted sheep shall fly : 

In vain the bold Epirotes 

Shall round their standards die ; 

1 A river in Etruria. 2 jn Calabria. 



THE PROPHECY OF CAPYS 8i 

And Apennine's grey vultures 

Shall have a noble feast 
On the fat and the eyes 

Of the huge earth-shaking beast. 

XXVI 

" Hurrah ! for the good weapons 

That keep the War-god's land. 
Hurrah ! for Rome's stout pilum 

In a stout Roman hand. 
Hurrah ! for Rome's short broadsword, 

That through the thick array 
Of levelled spears and serried shields 

Hews deep its gory way. 

xxvii 

" Hurrah ! for the great triumph 

That stretches many a mile. 
Hurrah ! for the wan captives 

That pass in endless file. 
Ho ! bold Epirotes, whither 

Hath the Red King ta'en flight ? 
Ho ! dogs of false Tarentum, 

Is not the gown washed white? 

XXVIII 

" Hurrah ! for the great triumph 

That stretches many a mile. 
Hurrah ! for the rich dye of Tyre/ 
1 In Phoenicia. 



82 THE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME 

And the fine web of Nile, 
The helmets gay with plumage 

Torn from the pheasant's wings, 
The belts set thick with starry gems 

That shone on Indian kings. 
The urns of massy silver, 

The goblets rough with gold. 
The many- coloured tablets bright 

With loves and wars of old, 
The stone that breathes and struggles. 

The brass that seems to speak ; — 
Such cunning they who dwell on high 

Have given unto the Greek. 

XXIX 

" Hurrah ! for Manius Curius, 

The bravest son of Rome, 
Thrice in utmost need sent forth, 

Thrice drawn in triumph home. 
Weave, weave, for Manius Curius 

The third embroidered gown : 
Make ready the third lofty car, 

And twine the third green crown ; 
And yoke the steeds of Rosea ^ 

With necks Hke a bended bow. 
And deck the bull, Mevania's ^ bull. 

The bull as white as snow. 

XXX 

" Blest and thrice blest the Roman 
Who sees Rome's brightest day, 

1 In Sabini. 2 in Umbria. 



THE PROPHECY OF CAPYS 8$ 

Who sees that long victorious pomp 

Wind down the Sacred Way, 
And through the bellowing Forum 

And round the Suppliant's Grove,^ 
Up to the everlasting gates 

Of Capitolian Jove. 

XXXI 

" Then where, o'er two bright havens, 

The towers of Corinth ^ frown ; 
Where the gigantic King of Day 

On his own Rhodes ^ looks down ; 
Where soft Orontes"* murmurs 

Beneath the laurel shades ; 
Where Nile reflects the endless length 

Of dark red colonnades ; 
Where in the still deep water, 

Sheltered from waves and blasts, 
Bristles the dusky forest 

Of Byrsa's ^ thousand masts; 
Where fur-clad hunters wander 

Amidst the northern ice ; 
Where through the sand of morning-land 

The camel bears the spice ; 
Where Atlas ^ flings his shadow 

Far o'er the western foam, 
Shall be great fear on all who hear 

The mighty name of Rome." 

1 See note on "asylum," p. 96. 

2 A very important commercial center in Greece, on the gulf of Corinth. 

3 An island in the ^gaean Sea. 5 The citadel of Carthage. 

4 A river in Syria. 6 a mountain in Africa. 




(MEDITERRANEAN) 



FidenaeL .Anwy 

^ROJIE^V Tusculum '•..., *«. 
I • AlbaLonga •*■•••* •., 
iP, 'Velltrae ; 

MAP OF L>vl^. ^""" -Cora •: 

CENTRAL ITALY ^1^ \^,^ i u M : 

TTITH MAP OF ' 

Rome and Vicinity ^^^^^^^'- *• « 

Fortress^ 




> L J oLake Regillus 

Tusculum • 



Alban Lale^ •Alba Longa 




NOTES EXPLANATORY OF THE TEXT 

GENERAL INTRODUCTION 

To be read carefully by students 

After the expulsion of the kings from Rome, the government was in 
the hands of the people, the patricians of high birth taking precedence 
of the lower classes, or plebeians. Two consuls, usually chosen from 
among the patricians, were the highest officers, and they presided over 
the more important administrative assemblies. The senate, composed 
of the Conscript Fathers, numbered about three hundred patrician 
heads of families. Three popular assemblies were recognized : the 
comitia curiata, patrician ; the comitia centuriata, a military organiza- 
tion both patrician and plebeian ; the comitia tributa, plebeian. The 
plebeians were allowed to elect tribunes, whose duty was to guard the 
interests of the common people. 

The religious beliefs of the Latins were very closely connected with 
those of the Greeks. Zeus, Hera, Aphrodite, Ares, were represented 
in Rome by the deities Jupiter, Juno, Venus, and Mars. Other deities 
were worshiped in addition to these mentioned, and the spirits of 
wind, water, air, and the inhabitants of the lower world were all 
objects of devotion. A definite system of priesthood was known in 
early Rome, for the Romans placed great stress upon religious cere- 
monial, being much more observant of outward form than were the 
Greeks. 

The Lays of Ancient Rome deal with legends, not with facts. 
Readers of Virgil know that according to tradition yEneas after his 
flight from Troy landed in Italy and built a city named Lavinium, 
His son Ascanius founded Alba Longa, and his descendants, Romulus 
and Remus, founded Rome, which became in later days the chief city 
of Italy, the center of a magnificent empire. Rome, of the period de- 
scribed by Macaulay, was a well-organized city. It was located upon 

85 



86 NOTES 

seven hills: the Palatine Hill, where the first homes were built; the 
Capitoline, where Jupiter's temple stood; the Esquiline, Cselian, Aven- 
tine, Quirinal, and Viminal. Below the Capitoline Hill was the Forum, 
a place somewhat resembling a modern city square. There were shops; 
there stood temples to the gods, the senate house, and an open space 
for the gathering of people together for discussion of public or private 
affairs. 

Macaulay's many references to history, mythology, and geography 
of ancient times were introduced chiefly for the sake of reproducing as 
far as possible the atmosphere, the setting, of past life. Readers should 
look with special care and pleasure for all the concrete and specific 
touches which make very vivid the civilization of two thousand years ago. 

In justice to the poet the lays should be read aloud, for he dis- 
tinctly emphasized the fact that they were supposed to be recited in 
public by old Roman ballad makers. The spirit of the poetry will be 
more fully appreciated in an oral reading, and it will be seen that the 
swing and resonance of the proper names add much to the power of 
the lines, Reading aloud will solve the problem of the pronunciation 
of the names, for the meter will show where each is to be accented. 

Students are advised to read the lays through three times. The 
first time they should seek to understand the text, using the explana- 
tory notes ; the second time they should search for the beauties of 
style, according to suggestions on pages 106-IIO ; the third time they 
should reread for pure enjoyment. 

HORATIUS 

Macaulay in this lay makes a plebeian recite the story of one of 
Rome's greatest legendary heroes. The date of recitation was one 
hundred and twenty years after the events described. The traditional 
date of the founding of Rome is 754 B.C. and the year of the city 
CCCLX would be 394 B.C. Wicked King Tarquin had been expelled 
from Rome, and in his efforts to regain his throne, he appealed to 
Porsena, king of Clusium, in Etruria. The story begins at this point. 

Page 1, Stanza I. Lars. This honorary title was usually given to 
the oldest son in an Etruscan family, while Aruns was the title of a 
younger son. Lars is our lord. 



NOTES 87 

Nine Gods. The most important Etruscan deities were probably 
nine in number, although scholars are not all agreed upon that point. 

House of Tarquin. The family of Tarquin is meant. This figura- 
tive expression, Jioiise of, is still in use to-day. 

Trysting day. Tryst is a Scandinavian vi^ord related to trust and 
to true. Originally it meant a pledge. A trysting day is a day sol- 
emnly appointed for meeting. 

Array. Troops. To array is to place in order, and what is thus 
arrayed may be persons or things, according to the context. 

II. Tower and town and cottage. Note in this stanza and the 
following, how vividly Macaulay suggests from what diverse regions 
and homes the allies of Porsena come. 

Page 2, III. Amain. Main is an Old English word meaning 
strength, power ; the prefix a, like that in afoot, is the same as on or 
in. With strength would be the modern phrase. We still say "with 
might and main." See Virginia, line 270. Milton used amain in 
Lycidas : — 

" Two massy keys he bore of metals twain, 
(The golden opes, the iron shuts amain)." 

Hamlet. A home-let, or small village. Let is a diminutive. 

IV. Hold. Stronghold. 

V. Mart. A shorter form of market, a place devoted to the buying 
and selling of goods of various sorts. Pisa was a prosperous commer- 
cial town and was frequented by merchants. 

Triremes. Vessels with three banks of oars to propel them. 

Corn. Not our American corn, but grain of different kinds. 

Page 3, VI. Champ. A Scandinavian word which means chew 
noisily. Why does Macaulay prefer it to " eat " or " chew " ? 

Mere. An Old English word meaning lake. It is now seldom used 
except in poetry. 

VIII. Must. The juice of the grape. In Italy, then, as now, wine 
was commonly made by " trampling out the vintage " by foot, in huge 
vats. Macaulay had probably seen the highly picturesque groups of 
barefooted Italian girls talking and laughing as they worked. 

Page 4, IX. Verses . . . traced from the right. In the ancient 
Phoenician system of writing, from which ours was developed later, it 



88 NOTES 

was customary to go from right to left on the page. These Etruscan 
manuscripts, written in the most archaic fashion, represent a very early 
stage, when the European races imitated the Phoenicians. Certain 
Oriental nations, such as the Persians, write in this way to-day. 

Seers of yore. Seer, from see, means prophet, one able to foresee. 
Yore is the old genitive plural of year, a.nd has come to Vi\Q.-3.x\. formerly, 
or possessed of years. 

X. Royal dome. Royal house, from Latin domus. This is not a 
very common use of the word dome, which ordinarily signifies merely 
the cupola-like portion of a large building. 

Nurscia. The Etruscan goddess of fortune. 

Golden shields of Rome. During the reign of Numa, according to 
tradition, a golden shield fell from heaven. The soothsayers asserted 
that the loss of the shield would betoken the destruction of Rome and 
consequently every effort was made to preserve it. Eleven duplicates 
were fashioned, and the twelve shields were carefully guarded in the 
temple of Mars. 

XI. Tale of men. Number of men. Tale is from tell, meaning 
count, and signifies that which is counted. Cf. Milton's U Allegro : — 

" And every shepherd tells his tale," 
a verse which the best critics interpret as meaning " counts the 
number (of his sheep)." 

Page 5, XII. Tusculan Mamilius. Tusculum was a powerful hill 
town, about a dozen miles from Rome. It has always been a famous 
spot to students of literature, for Cicero, Cato, and other distinguished 
men had villas there. 

XIII. In the following stanzas note the contrast between the splen- 
did picture of the rallying of Porsena's troops and the account of the 
frightened refugees. 

Yellow Tiber. The Tiber, as well as other Italian rivers, is muddy 
in appearance, having an odd, dull yellow color. 

Champaign. A plain, Latin campum. The Campagna (cam- 
pan'ya) is the open country outside any Italian town. The Roman 
Campagna is especially famous for its beauty. 

XIV. Litters. Portable low beds. 
Staves. Plural of staff. 



NOTES 89 

Page 6, XV. Skins of wine. The earliest method of carrying 
hquicls was to place them in bottles made of skins sewed firmly into 
shape. 

Kine. The old plural of cow, formed by a change in the vowel. Cf. 
other plurals, such as 7nice, Jiien, and teeth. 

Waggons. This word is still spelled with two g's in England. 

XVI. Rock Tarpeian. A rock in Rome on the Capitoline Hill, 
associated with the legend of Tarpeia, a young girl who betrayed her 
country to the Sabines, on condition that she should be given what 
they wore on their arms. Instead of receiving their golden bracelets, as 
she had expected, she was slain by the shower of heavy shields hurled 
upon her. 

Burghers. Citizens of a btirg, or borough, a term denoting a town. 

Fathers. Senators. See General Introduction, page 85. 

Page 7, XVIII. I wis. / believe. Properly spelled ywis, and really 
meaning certainly. Macaulay followed the old erroneous belief that 
there was a verb wis^ meaning believe. 

Sore. Sorely, or sadly. 

Girded up their gowns. The long robes worn by senators made it 
impossible for them to move quickly unless they belted or girded up 
their gowns. 

Hied them. Hastened ; an Old English word used now only in 
poetry. Cf. Shakespeare's Macbeth, I, 5, 26, " Hie thee hither." 

Page 8, XXI. Note how Macaulay makes the confused " cloud " 
gradually become distinct color, and form, and sound. 

XXIII. Port and vest. Port, from Latin portare, carry, means 
carriage, bearing. Vest is the same as Latin vestis and our vestment 
or vesture. 

Lucumo. Etruscan ; the word originally meant priest and later was 
synonymous with prince. 

Four-fold shield. A shield with wooden frame, covered with four 
thicknesses of leather. 

Brand. Sword, a common term in early heroic poetry. The devel- 
opment in meaning irom. firebrand \.o something flashing like a fire- 
brand is easily seen. Scott used the word freely. Cf. The Lady of the 
Lake, Canto II, stanza XXXII : — 



90 NOTES 

" 'Twas I that taught his youthful hand 
To rein a steed and wield a brand ; " 

and Tennyson's y)/(?;Y^ D' Arthur, "Take my brand, Excalibur." 

Thrasymene. The lake made famous in later times by the victory 
of Hannibal over the Romans, in a battle fought on its shores. 

Page 9, XXIV. False Sextus. The Tatquin whose infamous at- 
tack on Lucretia, the noble Roman matron, caused her to take her 
own life. 

Page 10, XXVI. Van. Vanguard, the front of an army. 

XXVII. Brave Horatius. Horatius was surnamed Codes, or one- 
eyed, although he was doubtless not blind. Macaulay makes him a 
patrician and is here extolling the spirit of the early patricians. Note 
the simplicity and nobility of Horatius's speech, ringing with patriotic 
fervor. How does Horatius compare with other epic heroes? Seethe 
Study of Heroic Poetry, page XI, and the epics mentioned in the 
bibliography, page 113. 

XXVIII. Maidens who feed the eternal flame. There were six 
priestesses whose duty it was to keep burning the flame on the altar of 
Vesta, goddess of the hearth. It was believed that disaster would be- 
fall the city if the fire were extinguished. 

Page 11, XXIX. Yon strait path. Yon is a short, poetic form of 
yonder. Strait, from Latin strictuni, means strict, narrow. It is an 
entirely different word from straight. Cf. Gospel of Matthew vii. 13, 
" Enter ye in at the strait gate." 

XXX. Spurius Lartius and Herminius. These men, too, were 
patricians. 

Page 12, XXXII. Spoils. Loot, or booty, captured in war. Some- 
times very valuable jewels, gold, and other precious things were taken. 

XXXIII. Tribunes beard the high. The officers representing 
the plebeians often made themselves dislike! by patricians because of 
their arrogant demands. See Shakespeare's Coriolanus. To beard is 
to seize contemptuously by the beard, then, by figurative use, to attack 
or oppose a person very boldly. 

XXXIV. Harness. Trappings of war, armor. The word is kin to 
iron. Cf. Shakespeare's Macbeth,^, 5, 52, "At least we'll die with 
harness on our back; " and Milton's Hymn on the Nativity, XXVII : — 



NOTES 91 

" And all about the courtly stable 
Bright-harnessed angels sit in order serviceable." 

Commons. Plebeians. Note in the following stanzas the rapidity 
of Macaulay's narrative and also the specific names of warriors and the 
kind of blows they gave. 

Page 14, XXXIX. Fen. Bog, or marsh. Cf. the Fens, in Bos- 
ton. 

XL. Fell pirate. Fell is an old word signifying cruel, grim. 

Hinds. Country laborers, from an old word meaning dojuestic. 

Page 16, XLIII. The she-wolf's litter. The descendants of 
Romulus and of Remus, fabled founders of Rome, who were nursed 
by a wolf. See The Prophecy of Capys. 

Page 17, XLVI. Augurs. Priests who interpreted the omens, or 
auguries, observed in the flight of birds and other such natural phe- 
nomena. 

XLVIII. Prowess. Bravery, from an Old French word. 

Page 20, LV. Turret-tops. Tu7'rets are small towers rising above 
the line of wall. 

Page 21, LIX. Father Tiber. The river god, represented in 
later Roman statuary as an old man reclining, surrounded by little 
children, who represented the sources and tributaries of the river. 

Page 22, LXII. I ween. / think; from an Old English verb 
meaning imagine, expect. 

Page 24, LXVI. Comitium. That part of the Forum where the 
assemblies, or comiticE met. See General Introduction, page 85. 

Page 25, LXIX. For other pictures of rustic life among the 
ancients, see Idylls V and VIII of Theocritus, the Greek poet, trans- 
lated by Andrew Lang. 

THE BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS 

This lay is supposed to be recited by a Roman poet, about ninety 
years after Horatius. Some of the persons mentioned in Horatius 
appear here also. Macaulay says, "The principal distinction between 
the lay of Horatitis and the lay of the Lake Regillus is that the former 
is meant to be purely Roman, while the latter, though national in its 
general spirit, has a slight tincture of Greek learning and of Greek 



92 NOTES 

superstition. ... In the following poem, therefore, images and in- 
cidents have been borrowed, not merely without scruple, but on 
principle, from the incomparable battle pieces of Homer." 

Page 26, Title. The feast of Castor and Pollux. The twin 
sons of Jove were famous for their brotherly love as well as for their 
" manly virtues." 

Stanza I. Lictors. Officers whose duty it was to attend the 
Roman magistrates and act as bodyguard. A lictor bore fasces, a 
bundle of rods from which an axe projected. 

Knights. The eguites, who ranked below the senate and above 
the plebeians, were knights. The knight as we generally think of him, 
a representative of chivalry, was not known until many centuries after 
this. See Sir Gazvain and the Green Knight and other romances of 
chivalry mentioned on page 114. 

Castor in the Forum. The temple of the god. 

Mars without the wall. The temple of Mars, outside the city 
walls. 

Purple. Purple robes were worn by those holding high official 
position. 

Olive. The olive has always been a symbol of peace. Cf. the 
opening lines of stanza III of Milton's Hymn on the Nativity ; — 

" But he, her fears to cease, 
Sent down the meek-eyed Peace : 
She, crowned with olive green," etc. 

Yellow River. See above, page 88. 

Sacred Hill. Mons Sacer, outside the city. The plebeians bao 
often held consultations on this hill. It was here that Menenius 
Agrippa told the fable of the stomach and the limbs. 

Ides of Quintilis. The fifteenth day of July. According to the 
Roman calendar the days of the month were reckoned with reference 
to calends (ka'-lendz), nones (nonz), and ides (idz). The first day of 
each month was known as the calends (Latin calare = call), probably 
because on this day the priests were accustomed to call, or proclaim, 
the approaching nones, which fell on the seventh of March, May, July, 
and October, and on the fifth day of the other months. The nones 
(Latin nontis = ninth) marked the ninth day before the ides. Accord- 



NOTES 93 

ingly, the ides of March, May, July, and October fell on the fifteenth 
and the ides of other months on the thirteenth day. The derivation 
of ides is very uncertain. It may come from a Greek word meaning 
see, and may indicate the day on which the full moon might be seen. 

Martian Kalends. The first day of March. 

December's Nones. The fifth day of December. 

Squadron. A body of cavalry. The word meant, originally, a 
square of men. To-day it is applied to a body of cavalry, or of in- 
fantry, or to a fleet of ships. 

Rome's whitest day. White was considered representative of all 
that is propitious. Candidate (Latin candidatus = clothed in white) 
was the name applied to one seeking office, who was required by law 
to wear white. 

Page 27, II. The city of two kings. Lacedaemon always was 
governed by two kings who held office at the same time. 

II. From the East. From Greece. 

III. Cots. Cottages. The word remains in cotter and in sheepcote. 
In a slightly different sense we have cot, meaning a bed of a size suited 
to a cottage. 

Angle. An Old English word meaning first hook and then fishhook. 
Angler is still often used instead oi fisherman by people who like to 
speak a somewhat old-fashioned language. 

The Thirty Cities. An important Latin league. 

Page 29, V. Consul first in place. "Consul Major, one who had 
the largest number of votes, or with whom the forces were, or one who 
was oldest or had most children." (Andrews.) 

The Herald of the Latines. The Latins here meant are those 
inhabitants of Latium outside of Rome. They sent a herald, or officer, 
empowered to carry a formal challenge of war. 

Page 30, VII. Eyrie. An eyrie is a nest built by a bird of prey, 
usually in some high place difficult of access. The proper spelling is 
aery, for the word is derived from Latin area. 

Page 31, VIII. Dictator. In times of extreme danger to the nation 
it was customary to name a dictator, or executive, who should have 
almost absolute power. 

Axes twenty-four. Twenty-four lictors. See above, page 92. 



94 NOTES 

Page 32, X. Note the rapidity with which Macaulay characterizes 
the various towns and gives them some distinctively picturesque 
attribute. 

Ghastly priest. Human sacrifices were anciently offered, in the 
shadow of Aricia's trees, to Diana. 

Page 33, XI. Charger. A charger is a strong horse used to carry- 
ing a heavy burden or charge. The word is ordinarily used to desig- 
nate a spirited war horse. Note the use of charger in the old romances 
mentioned on page 114. Cf. Lowell's The Vision of Sir Laimfal, Part 
First, stanza III : — 

" The drawbridge dropped with a surly clang, 
And through the dark arch a charger sprang." 

Page 34, XII. A woman fair and stately. Lucretia. See above, 
page 90. 

Page 36, XIV. Note how Macaulay makes the battle vivid by de- 
scribing not the actual blows given but the sights and sounds which 
show how furiously men fought. 

Targe. Target, a small shield. 

XV. Corselet. From French corselet meaning a little body and 
hence armor for the body. Note the materials used and compare 
with the medieval plate armor and chain armor. 

Helm. A poetical form of helmet. 

Brake. A growth of ferns or of low bushes. 

Page 38, XVI. Bucklers. Shields. The word is derived from Latin 
bocula = the boss or knob in the center of a shield. Frequently shields 
in ancient times were several feet long and could well form a wall 
if placed edge to edge. The word is used often in the Bible. Cf. 
Psalm xci. 4, "His truth shall be thy shield and buckler." 

Pruning among his elms. Pruning grape-vines trained upon elm 
trees. 

Clients. Men under the protection of a wealthy landowner who 
guarded their interests and who expected them to render him assist- 
ance in time of war. 

Page 40, XVII. Weal and woe. Prosperity and disaster. Note 
the alliteration in this and in similar phrases such as " make or mar," 
" sink or swim." 



NOTES 95 

Bestrode. Stood over for protection. 

Span deep. A span is the distance from the tip of the thumb to 
that of the little finger when the hand is open, usually considered nine 
inches. 

Yeomen. The sturdy soldiers of the plebeian order. The deriva- 
tion is uncertain, but probably the word meant, originally, villager. 

Page 41, XIX. Note the appeals made here to the reader's eye and 
ear. 

Wist. See above, page 89. 

A Consular. Of consular rank. Valerius had been consul. 

Page 42, XXII. Amain. See above, page 87. 

Page 44, XXV. Auster. The south wind for which the horse was 
named is characterized by violent heat and by swift, tempestuous 
movement. 

Page 45, XXVII. Lay on. Give valiant blows. 

XXIX. How does this wild journey compare with that taken by 
Paul Revere and with that in Browning's poem, How They brought the 
Good News from Ghent to Aix ? 

Page 46, XXX. Carnage. Massacre attended by fearful bloodshed. 

Furies of thy brother. The Furies, or Eumenides of the Greek 
mythology, pursued murderers with unabating zeal. The brother is 
the guilty Tarquin who caused the death of Lucretia. See above, 
page 90. 

Capuan's hall. Capua was famous for its luxuriousness. 

Page 48, XXXIV. Note how successfully Macaulay suggests the 
widespread worship of Castor and Pollux by mentioning cities in 
different regions : one in Greece, one in Africa, one in Italy, and one 
in Sicily. 

Mast of Syracuse. Syracuse, a sea town, built on an elevation, has 
had a powerful position. It is one of the most interesting of Sicihan 
towns at the present day. 

Page 49, XXXV. Couched low his spear. To couch a spear is to 
place it, in a position for speedy action, low over the saddle. 

Page 50, XXXVI. Adrian main. The Adriatic Sea. Main is 
used in poetry for both sea and land, meaning the main part of either 
as opposed to small portions. 



96 NOTES 

Page 52, XXXVII. High Pontiff. Pontifex Alaximus, the head 
of the system of priests, or pontiffs. He was a person of great impor- 
tance. See General Introduction, page 85. 

Etruria's colleges. Not colleges in our modern sense, but assem- 
blies of men devoted to the study of religious rites. 

XXXVII. Pricking. Spurring. 

Page 53, XXXVIII. Asylum. Romulus, according to legend, 
founded a place of refuge on the Capitoline Hill, where fugitives from 
other nations were received and protected on condition that they 
would become citizens of Rome. 

Fire that burns for aye. See above, page 90. 

Shield that fell from Heaven. See above, page 88. 

Page 53, XXXIX. Durst. Dared, an archaic form frequently used 
by poets. 

XL. Dorians. Inhabitants of Doris, in Greece, famous for their 
force of character. 

Sit shining on the sails. The twin brothers were identified with 
the constellation Gemini, and were guides to mariners. 

VIRGINIA 

In this lay the cause of the plebeians is celebrated. Macaulay makes 
tlje poet recite his story seventy years after the events mentioned had 
taken place. Wc are to imagine him addressing a gathering of ple- 
beians who have just reelected their tribunes and are rejoicing over 
the rights and privileges they have gained. 

Page 56, Line 6. Maids with snaky tresses. An allusion to the 
story of Medusa, the Gorgon, whose head was wreathed with snakes. 
The Furies, also, were maids with snaky tresses. 

Sailors turned to swine. An allusion to the story in the Odyssey, 
where the companions of Ulysses are turned to swine by the enchant- 
ress, Circe. 

10. Wicked Ten. The Decemvirs, who had been appointed to 
draw up laws satisfactory to both patricians and plebeians, and to take 
charge of the government for one year. They were patricians. At 
first the decemvirs proved highly efficient, but in the second year they 
became insolent and unjust, rousing the anger of the plebeians. 



NOTES 97 

Page 57, 15. Eyed askance. Looked obliquely, or crookedly; 
with suspicion. 

23. Such varlets, etc. Such rascals perform shameful deeds for the 
sake of money. Varlet is the same as vassal and valet, and has a 
suggestion of servility. 

The lying Greeks. This is an expression of Roman prejudice. 
There was great rivalry between the two nations. 

24. Licinius. The newly elected tribune. See title of the poem. 
31. Tablets. Pieces of wood, or ivory, overlaid with wax, upon which 

a person wrote by means of a sharp-pointed instrument called a stylus. 
Our style is derived from this word. 

Page 58, 35. Sacred street. The Via Sacra leading from a city 
gate, through various windings, up to the Capitoline Hill, where Jupi- 
ter's temple stood. 

36. Good old song. A reference to Lucretia, the model matron, 
who was found employed at household tasks at a time when other 
women were usually idle. See above, page 94. 

45. Alban mountains. A beautiful range of hills not far from 
Rome. 

47. Note the concrete pictures of everyday life in the Forum. See 
General Introduction, page 85. 

Page 59, 50. Panniers. Bread baskets, ox\gu\?^y {xovc\.\.2Xva panis 
meaning bread. Panniers are carried at the sides of a horse's saddle. 

64. Punic wares. Carthaginian. The Pcsni, or* Carthaginians, 
made very artistic and sumptuous articles for household use, which 
were imported by Roman merchants just as we to-day import Parisian 
wares. 

66. Flesher. Butcher. Properly speaking, a butcher slays only 
goats, but we have broadened the meaning of the word. 

Page 60, 70. Caitiff. A base rascal, from Latin captivus = a 
captive wretch. This word appears often in the old romances. 

74. Year of the sore sickness. The plague, which devastated the 
country. 

76, Augurs. See above, page 91. 

81. Note here, and later, how the word tribune is repeated in order 
to emphasize the cause celebrated by the poet. 



98 NOTES 

87. Icilius. Betrothed to Virginia. 

Page 61, 89. That column. A column erected in memory of 
Horatius, who was victor in the fight between the three Roman Horatii 
and the three Alban Curiatii. This is not the hero of Macaulay's lay, 
Horatius. 

94. Quirites. Roman citizens. The word is derived from Cures, 
a Sabine town, whose inhabitants were called Quirites. " After the 
Sabines and the Romans had united themselves into one community, 
under Romulus, the name of Quirites was taken in addition to that of 
Romani, the Romans calling themselves, in a civil capacity, Quirites, 
while in a political and military capacity they retained the name of 
Romani." (Andrews.) 

95. Servius. Servius TuUius, one of the legendary kings of Rome, 
was loved by the commons, partly because he was a wise lawgiver, and 
partly because he was, by birth, of their rank. His mother was a ser- 
vant in the household of King Tarquinius ; his father was a god. The 
supernatural attributes of the child led Tarquinius to adopt him and in 
time to marry him to his daughter, thus making him heir to the throne. 

96. Tarquin's evil seed. See above, page 90. 

97. Those false sons. The sons of Lucius Junius Brutus, traitors 
to their country, were slain by their father. 

98. Scaevola. A noble Roman named Mucius went as spy into the 
camp of Porsena during the war that continued after the exploit of 
Horatius, who -kept the bridge. When Mucius was discovered and 
threatened with death, he won his freedom by showing his enemies 
how great was his fortitude and his scorn of physical suffering ; he 
thrust his right hand into the fire and allowed it to be burned, thus 
winning the admiration of his enemies. Thenceforth he was called 
SccEvola, meaning left-handed. 

99. Fox-earth. The fox's hole in the earth, meaning here, figura- 
tively, the fox. 

100. Brook. Endure, from an Old English word meaning enjoy. 
102. Sacred Hill. See above, page 92. 

104. Marcian fury. Caius Marcius, later Coriolanus, opposed the 
plebeians bitterly, and roused their anger to such an extent that they 
caused him to be exiled. See Shakespeare's Coriolanus. 



NOTES 99 

Fabian Pride. The Fabii were patricians who, shamed by dis- 
asters in war where patrician leaders were defeated, took sides with 
the plebeians, and worked for plebeian causes. The legend of the war 
of the Fabii with the Veii is to be found in any history of Rome. 

105. Fiercest Quinctius. The name Quinctius belonged by right 
to three families — the Cincinnati, Capitohni, and Flaminii. Caeso, 
son of the famous Cincinnatus, was banished for his opposition to the 
plebeians. 

Haughtiest Claudius. Grandfather of the Appius Claudius of the 
story. 

106. Fasces. The bundles of rods bound up with an axe, borne 
by lictors. See above, page 92. 

Page 62, iii. Note the attitude of the plebeians toward the patri- 
cians and the specific complaints of abuses. 
Polling. The registering of votes. 

115. Fillets. Small bands, passing about the head, used to confine 
the hair. They were a symbol of priesthood and also of patrician rank, 
since plebeians were not admitted to the priesthood. 

116. Curule chair. This chair, inlaid with ivory and possessing 
neither arms nor back, was used by important officers of state. Prob- 
ably airule is derived from ciiri-us, meaning a car, since the chair was 
frequently placed in a car to be drawn through the streets on important 
occasions. 

Press. Impress, force to serve. 

117. Cohorts. A group of about five hundred soldiers, part of a 
legion. 

1 1 8. Garners. Granaries. 

119. Leech-craft. Medicine. Leech is the Old English word for 
physician. Cf. Spenser's Faerie Qiieene, Book I, Canto V, stanza 
XVII : — 

" Home is he brought, and layd in sumptous bed, 
Where many skilfull leaches him abide 
To salve his hurts." 

120. Usance. Usury ^ the demanding of an exorbitant rate of 
interest on money lent by the rich to the poor. Cf. Shakespeare's 
MercJimit of Venice, I, 3, 45-46 : — 

LOfC. 



lOO NOTES 

" He lends out money gratis and brings down 
The rate of usance here with us in Venice." 

122. Noisome. Evil smelling and dangerous to health. The 
same as noxious. 

123. Dog-star heat. Sirius, the Dog Star, was supposed to be 
influential in bringing heat in July and August. 

124. Holes for free-born feet. Stocks, wooden frames, where the 
feet were imprisoned. A picture of stocks may be found in Webster's 
Unabridged Dictionary . 

127. Shades. Departed spirits. 

Page 63, 133. Corinthian mirrors. Corinth, in Greece, was famous 
for its bronze. Mirrors were, in olden times, made of highly polished 
metal. 

Page 64, 148. Great sewer. The Cloaca Maxima, the huge 
drain of Rome. 

150. Whittle. A butcher's knife. 

152. Note the tender beauty of this picture of family life. 

157. Civic crown. A crown of oak leaves, given to a man who 
had saved another's life. 

162. Urn. The small jar in which the ashes of the dead were 
sacredly preserved. 

Page 66, 193. Nether gloom. Nether is derived from a word 
meaning downward, lower. Cf. Coleridge's Ancient Mariner, 

Part III : — 

" The horned moon, with one bright star 
Within the nether tip." 

The dwellers in the nether gloom are the inhabitants of the lower 
world. Here, evidently, Macaulay refers particularly to the Furies, 
who pursued murderers. 

Page 67, 213. Cypress crown. The cypress tree is associated w-ith 
death. Italian cemeteries are, to-day, full of cypresses. 

216. Rabble. From a word meaning to chatter ; now a noisy, 
violent crowd. Cf. Shakespeare's Macbeth, V, 5, 29, " To be baited 
with the rabble's curse." 

217. Crafts Occupations. The Old English word means skill, 
force. 



NOTES loi 

Page 68, 228. Pincian Hill. One of the lesser Roman hills. 
Latin Gate. The Porta Latina, on the road leading to Capua, was 
on the opposite side of Rome from the Pincian. 

Page 69, 244. Potsherds. Pot-shards, pieces of broken pots. 

248. Note the tribute paid to the really patriotic patricians. 

249. Caius of Corioli. The patrician mentioned in line 104 
above, who won an important victory over the Volscians at Corioli, and 
was thenceforth called Coriolanus. 

251. Beneath the yoke of Furius. Camillus, victor over the Gauls 
in their war with Rome about 389 B.C. The conquered were made to 
pass under a yoke formed by making one spear rest horizontally upon 
two other spears driven into the ground. 

257. Cossus. See Battle of Lake Regillus, stanza XXIII. 

258. Fabius. See above, page 99. 

259. Claudian litter. The Claudian family, referred to contemp- 
tuously by the term applied to a family of young puppies or other 
animals. 

Page 70, 277. Sea-marks. The various landmarks on the coast of 
Calabria, in southeastern Italy, were guides to mariners. 

Spume. From Latin spuma, meaning yc»«w. 

278. Thunder Cape. The promontory in Greece, opposite Cala- 
bria. 

Page 71, 283. Retainers. Dependents holding a higher position 
than m.ere servants. 

THE PROPHECY OF CAPYS 

Macaulay tells us that this lay was recited in honor of the victory of 
the Romans over King Pyrrhus of Greece, about 275 B.C. Represent- 
ing a later period of Roman history than any of the other lays. The 
Prophecy of Capys " shows a much wider acquaintance with the 
geography, manners, and productions of remote nations." 

Page 72, Stanza I. After Alba Tonga had been founded on the 
mountainous side of the Alban lake by Ascanius, son of yEneas, it was 
ruled prosperously until the days of Amulius, who, in his desire to be 
sole potentate, attempted to destroy all the heirs to the throne. When 
the two children of his sister, Rhea Silvia, and the god Mars, were 



102 NOTES 

born, he ordered that the mother be killed and the children drowned. 
However, through care of the gods, the children were preserved by a 
wolf, who nursed them until a shepherd found them, and under the 
shepherd's roof Romulus and Remus grew to manhood. Tradition 
says that Rome was founded by them about 754 B.C. 

Sylvian line. Sylvius, or Silvius, was a descendant of ^neas. 

Throne of Aventine. Aventinus was one of the descendants of 
^neas, coming later than Silvius. 

Page 73, III. Burgher. See above, page 89. 

Poplar crown. The poplar was sacred to Hercules, who wore a 
poplar crown after his return from Hades. 

Page 75, VIII. Holy fillets. See above, page 99. 

Page 76, XL Note that the prophet addresses Romulus, for whom 
Rome was named. 

XII. Our vines clasp many a tree. Note the concrete way of 
suggesting what was wealth. The vines, made to trail from one tree to 
another near by, instead of over a trellis, were luxuriant in growth 
and extended their tendrils widely. Large vineyards were a sign of 
prosperity. 

XIII. Note the very specific references to places and things. Ma- 
caulay intended to show how wealthy and effeminate people gathered 
objects of luxury from distant lands, often at great expense. Spain, 
Africa, Arabia, and Phcenicia yielded their treasures for the pleasure 
of idle Romans. The contrasts between the soldier and the mere 
citizen are emphasized constantly in these stanzas. 

Arabia shall not steep thy locks. The " perfumes of Arabia " 
were used lavishly in Roman toilets. Cf. Shakespeare's Macbeth, V, 
I, 57, " All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand." 

Sidon. Tyre, and its neighbor Sidon, were famous for gorgeous 
purple dyes. 

Page 77, XIV. Myrrh. A transparent gum used chiefly for 
perfumes. 

Thou wast not made for lucre. Not destined to engage in aff'airs 
connected with mere money and gain. 

XV. Note how this stanza serves as " topic sentence," explained 
and amplified by details in the following stanzas. 



NOTES 103 

From sunrise unto sunset. From east to west. 

Page 78, XVIII. Pomona. The goddess of fruits and fruit 
trees. 

Liber. An old Italian god, who presided over planting. 

Pales. The goddess of shepherds and of flocks. 

Venus. The familiar goddess of love. 

XIX. Thy father. Mars, the war god. 

Reeks. Runs, steaming with vapor. The word comes from an 
Old English word meaning vapor. 

Page 79. XX. Soft Campanian. The inhabitants of southern 
Italy were famous for their effeminateness. 

Tyre. See above, page 102. 

Scrolls of wordy lore. In ancient times books were not bound up 
in pages as are ours to-day, but were made by fastening leaves together 
lengthwise until a sheet often many feet long was prepared. This was 
then carefully rolled on a staff and in order to get the learning, or lore, 
contained, the reader slowly unrolled the book. Scroll meant, originally, 
shred. 

XXI. Pilum. A heavy javelin. 

Legion. A body of soldiers, numbering perhaps five thousand. 

Wheels of triumph. Military conquerors held triumphal proces- 
sions, in which they exhibited the spoils of war, — armor, gold, jewels, 
and captives. Study closely Macaulay's description of a triumph, both 
here and in the following stanzas. Cf. the opening scene of Shake- 
speare's Julius CcBsar. 

Laurelled train. Procession of people crowned with the victor's 
laurel. 

Fane. Temple, from YjsXva. fanum meaning a place dedicated. 

XXII. Volscian. Referring to the wars in which Coriolanus was 
victor. See above, page loi. 

Vail. From a French word meaning lower. 

Capua's revellers. The effeminate Capuans were obliged to ask 
military aid from Rome in wars against the Samnites. 

Lucumoes of Arnus. Originally Etruscan priests, later warriors. 
The Arnus, the chief river of Etruria, is the modern Arno on which 
Florence is built. 



I04 NOTES 

Samnite's. An inhabitant of Samnium, a district southeast of 
Latium. Rome conducted three wars against the Samnites. 

Page 80, XXIII. Gaul. The Gauls were old enemies of the 
Romans. Macaulay refers here, probably, to the war with Brennus, 
when the cackling of the geese saved Rome. 

XXIV. Greek. Pyrrhus, one of the most successful Greek generals. 
He came against Rome in response to an appeal from the Tarentines, 
who wished his help in fighting their battles with the Romans. 

Huge earth-shaking beast. The elephant, used by the Eastern 
nations in battle. The presence of the elephants usually brought dis- 
may to the opposing armies. 

Epirotes. Citizens of Epirus, in northern Greece, over which 
Pyrrhus was king. 

False Tarentum. The Tarentines had grossly insulted a Roman 
ambassador, and had even descended to personal abuse, soiling his 
senatorial gown. Macaulay, in telling the story, in his introduction to 
this lay, pictures the ambassador saying, " Men of Tarentum, it will 
take not a little blood to wash this gown." 

Page 81, XXVI. Note how the prophet, becoming more and more 
frenzied, bursts out into exclamation and tumultuous acclaim. 

Serried shields. Shields closely locked together by their bearers, 
in order to present an impenetrable front. Series comes from the 
same root as serried. 

XXVII. Wan. Colorless, originally ; now suggestive of paleness 
and fatigue. 

Red King. Pyrrhus ; the name, in Greek., mezrvs, Jlame-colored. 

Gown washed white. See above, note to " False Tarentum." 

Page 82, XXVIII. Pheasant. The pheasant was a land bird 
found commonly in Greece. 

Indian kings. Potentates, possessing fabulous wealth, defeated and 
despoiled by the Greeks. 

Many-coloured tablets. Set with various jewels. 

Stone . . . brass. Statuary and artistic ornaments of metal, carved 
or chased with subtle skill. 

Cunning. From the verb can meaning know. The knowledge of 
the Greeks had a certain element of our modern cunning, or dexterity. 



NOTES 105 

XXIX. Manius Curius. Manius Curius Dentatus defeated Pyrrhus 
in a fierce battle near Beneventum, in Samnium. 

Third embroidered gown. An embroidered gown was worn by a 
triumphant general. Curius had already won two triumphs. 

Steeds of Rosea. Rosea was noted for its fertility and for its fine 
horses. 

Mevania's bull. Mevania, in Umbria, was famous for its snow- 
white cattle. At the fairs in Umbria to-day one may see the splendid 
white oxen, decorated with red ribbons. 

Page 83, XXX. The Suppliant's Grove. The Asylum of Romu- 
lus. See above, page 96. 

XXXI. Note how Macaulay concludes with a suggestion of the 
infinite distances traversed by the glory of Rome. Greece, Syria, 
Egypt, Carthage, the remote north, the east, the African mountains, 
in the south, all tremble at the name of Rome. This stanza, the last 
in the series of four lays, is intended to sum up the position of Ancient 
Rome and to give a magnificent tribute to the fame of the Eternal 
City. 

Towers of Corinth. Corinth was built on the isthmus that connects 
the Peloponnesus with the mainland of Greece. It had a command- 
ing position for trade by land and by sea, and was one of the greatest 
and most prosperous Greek cities. 

Gigantic King of Day. The Colossus of Rhodes, the huge statue 
dedicated to the sun, was one of the Seven Wonders of the World. 

Dark red colonnades. Long avenues of columns made out of 
porphyry, a red stone harder than granite. 



NOTES AND SUGGESTIONS FOR THE 
STUDY OF THE POETRY OF THE LAYS 

Note. One or two pages of text may profitably be assigned to each 
student, and he may be held responsible for the material included there. 
This course may be followed in class, or out, according to the teacher's, 
preference. 

I. Macaulay's Use of the Concrete and the Specific 

Collect as many definite references as possible to trees, flowers, 
colors,! sounds, articles of dress, different kinds of weapons, articles 
of food, occupations, and amusements. Where did Macaulay gain all 
this information in regard to everyday life and surroundings in Rome 
in ancient days ? 

II. The Descriptive Element 

1. What is the most vivid account of a combat between two war- 
riors ? How much time does the combat seem to occupy? How 
many lines does Macaulay devote to it? 

2. What is the best description of a battle? How does Macaulay's 
description compare with that of Shakespeare in the fifth act of Mac- 
beth ? With that of Scott in the sixth canto of Marmion ? With that 
of Homer in the fifth, sixteenth, and seventeenth books of the Iliad? 

3. What is the best description of the personal appearance of a 

warrior? 

4. What is the best description of the appearance of an approachmg 

army? 

5. What is the best description of a landscape? 

6. What is the best description of a town? 

7. What is the best description of a river? 

8. What stanza would give a painter the best suggestions for a 
picture? 

1 Cf. stanza XXI of The Battle of the Lake Regillus. 
106 



NOTES • • 107 

III. Style and Diction 

1. Did Macaulay prefer to use long words, of two or more syllables, 
or short words? Count the number of each kind on one page. 

2. Did he prefer simple words, or compound? 

3. Make a list of the archaic words he used, such as " wist," 
" amain." 

4. Compare the following passages : — 

" Quickly the twin brothers came, from their home in Greece, across 
mountains, cities, and the sea." 

" Swift, swift, the Great Twin Brethren 
Came spurring from the east. 
They came o'er wild Parthenius 

Tossing in waves of pine, 
O'er Cirrha's dome, o'er Adria's foam, 

O'er purple Apennine, 
From where with flutes and dances 

Their ancient mansion rings, 
In lordly Lacedaemon, 
The City of two kings." 
Decide why Macaulay chose — 
" Swift, swift " instead of " quickly " or " swift." 
" Brethren " instead of " brothers." 
" Came spurring " instead of " came." 
" From the east " instead of " from Greece." 
" Parthenius " instead of " mountain." 

" Tossing in waves of pine " instead of " covered with trees." 
" O'er " instead of " over." 
" Cirrha's dome " instead of " a high city." 
" Adria's foam " instead of " Adriatic sea." 
" Purple Apennine " instead of " colored Apennine." 
"Flutes and dances" instead of " music and festivity." 
" Rings" instead of " resounds." 
" Lordly Lacedsmon" instead of "royal Lacedaemon." 

5. Decide how much Macaulay depended upon figures of speech 
for his vividness and beauty of expression, by collecting examples of 
the following figures. Note in each case whether the figure helps you 
to understand or makes the passage obscure. 



io8 NOTES 

Repetition. Ex. : " Brave champion on brave steed." 

Simile. Ex. : " Upon his head a hehnet 

Of red gold shone like flame." 

Metaphor. Ex. : " The proud Samnite's heart of steel 
Shall yield to only thee." 

Personification. Ex. : " Camerium knows how deeply 
The sword of Aulus bites." 

Synecdoche. Ex. : "Arabia shall not steep thy locks." 

Antithesis. Ex. : " As we wax hot in faction 
In battle we wax cold." 

Epithet. Ex.: "False Sextus;" " Proud Ides." 

Onomatopoeia. Ex. : " The braying of the war-horns, 

The clang of sword and shield. " 

A little reflection will show how to answer these questions, and then 
it will be possible to state the more important diff"eFences between 
poetry and prose, in music of words, in concrete, vivid images, in 
figurative language, and in general richness of style. 

6. Special study may be given to the following stanzas, which con- 
tain particularly suggestive beauties. Adjective by adjective, verb by 
verb, the verses may be discussed, and pupils may compare Macaulay's 
words with various synonyms, and so learn to appreciate the care with 
which he chose his language. 

Horatius. Stanzas IV, XXI, XXVII, XXXV, XXXVI, LIX. 

The Battle of the Lake Regillus. Stanzas X, XI, XIV, XIX, 
XXIX. 

Virginia. Lines 93-128. 

The Prophecy of Capys. Stanzas XVIII, XIX, XXVIII, XXXI. 

IV. Versification 

1. Discover, by scanning, what is the meter of each lay. 

2. Why is there no division into stanzas in Virginia ? 

3. Why are the stanzas of the other lays of varying length? 

4. Collect examples of middle, or internal rime, such as : — 

" From the green steeps, whence Anio leapsP 
What do they add to the music of the verse? 

5. Collect examples of alliteration, such as : — 



NOTES 109 

" IVhen he was aware of a/rincely/air 
Fast /ricking i'owards the /own." 
What does alliteration add to the music of the verse? 
6. Read aloud stanza XXIX of The Battle o'f the Lake Regilhis, and 
then read a dozen lines from Milton's Lycidas. What are the chief 
differences in sound between the two? 

V. The Structure of the Narrative 

1. Make a list of the most important actors in each lay, and note 
how many unimportant actors are mentioned also. 

2. Transform these four narratives into brief dramas by selecting 
the following material : — 

a. All descriptions which would help to give the scenery and 

the background for the stage setting. 

b. All descriptions which would help to decide questions in 

regard to the costumes worn by actors. 

c. All passages which would show what each actor must do m 

playing his part upon the stage. 

d. All passages which would show what each actor must say 

in playing his part. Note the monologues and the dia- 
logues. 

3. In how many different places would the scene of action be in 
each lay? 

4. Is it easy to find out where each scene would end, or has Macaulay 
told his story in such a way as to keep one actor continuously before 
us? 

5. What would have to be omitted if the lays were dramatized ? 
Why? 

6. What scenes would be most dramatic, i.e. most full of action 
and most uncertain as to outcome ? 

VI. Comparison of the Lays with Other Poetry of Similar Style 

1. What suggestions of incident, or of description, or of diction did 
Macaulay find in the works of Sir W^alter Scott ? 

2. What epithets and similes has Macaulay imitated from Homer ? 

3. What names of armor or of battle line has Macaulay taken from 
older heroic poetry? 



no NOTES 

4. How does Macaulay's ideal of bravery compare with that of other 
writers of epic poetry ? (See works mentioned on page 113.) 

5. Compare Macaulay's knowledge of the Greek and of the Latin 
classics with that of Milton. What differences are there in their 
allusions ? 

6. Compare Macaulay's knowledge of Roman life and history with 
that of Shakespeare in Julius Ccesar. 

7. How does Macaulay's imitation of ballad style compare with that 
of Coleridge in The Ancient Mariner ? 

8. How does Macaulay's narrative style compare in vividness and 
interest with that of Tennyson in The Idylls of the King? 



INDEX OF PROPER NAMES 

H. = Horatius ; R. = Battle of the Lake Regillus ; V. = Virginia ; 
C. = Prophecy of Capys 
J. 
Adria (A-dree-a). The Adriatic sea, east of Italy. 

-ffibutius Elva (E-bu-shus El-va). Master of the Knights in R. 

Alba Longa (Al-ba Lon-ga). The mother city of Rome, founded by 
Ascanius on the Alban Lake. 

Algidus (Al-ji-dus). A mountain in Latium. 

Amulius (A-mu-li-us). Uncle of Romulus and Remus. C. I. 

Anio (Ah-nee-6). An important tributary of the Tiber, in Latium. 

Arretium ( Ar-ree-shum) . A city in Etruria. 

Bandusia (Ban-du-zha). A fountain near the birthplace of Horace. 

Caeso (See-z6). A warrior in R. 

Castor. One of the Great Twin Brethren. R. II. 

Clusium (Clu-zhum). A city in Etruria, ruled by Lars Porsena. 

Comitium (C6-mf-shum). See page 91. 

Corinth. A powerful Greek city. See page 105. 

Cyrene (Sy-ree-ne). A city in Africa. 

Etruria (E-tru-ri-a). A district in northwestern Italy, modern Tus- 
cany. 

Fidenas (Fi-dee-nee). A city near Rome. 

Forum. The center of Roman public life, a place crowded with temples 
and shops, where citizens assembled. 

Furies. The goddesses of vengeance who pursued murderers. 

Gabii (Ga-bi-I). A city in Latium. 

Herminius. One of the " dauntless three " who held the bridge in 
Horatius. Mentioned also in The Battle of the Lake Regillus. 

Horatius (Ho-ra-shus). The hero of the first lay. See also page 98. 

Janiculum (Ja-nic-ii-lum). A hill beyond the Tiber, taken by Lars 
Porsena in Horatius. 

Ill 



112 INDEX OF PROPER NAMES 

LacedSBmon (Las-e-dee-mon). A Greek city. 

Lars Porsena (Por-sen-a). King of Clusium. See page 86. 

Latium. An important district in central Italy, inhabited by Romans, 

Latins, and Volscians. 
Lucrece (Lu-crees). Lucretia, a virtuous Roman matron who took 

her own life because she was dishonored by Sextus Tarquinius. 

H. XXIV, R. XII, V. 38. 
Lucumo (Lu-cu-mo). Etruscan. 

Mamilius. A warrior fighting against the Romans. R. XI. 
Manius Curius. The general who defeated Pyrrhus. C. XXIX. 
Nurscia (Nur-sha). An Etruscan goddess of fortune. 
Ostia (Os-ti-a). The port of Rome. 
Pincian (Pin-shan). A hill of Rome. 
Pollux. One of the Great Twin Brethren. R. II. 
Pjnrrhus (Pir-riis). A famous Greek general. See page 104. 
Regillus (Re-jil-lus). A small lake in Latium, where the Romans 

.defeated the Latins. 
Remus (Re-mus). One of the legendary founders of Rome. C. VIII. 
Rhea Sylvia (Ree-a Sil-vi-a). Mother of Romulus and Remus, sister 

of Amulius. 
Romulus (R6m-u-lus). One of the legendary founders of Rome. 

C. VII. 
Sacred Hill. Mons Sacer. See page 92. 
Sacred Street. See page 97. 
Samnites (Sam-nits). See page 104. 
ScaBvola (See-vo-la). See page 98. 
Sextus. Sextus Tarquinius. The wretch who dishonored Lucretia 

and caused her death. H. XXIV, R. XII. 
Soracte (So-rac-tee). A famous snow-capped mountain in Etruria. 
Spurius Lartius. One of the " dauntless three " who held the bridge, 

in Horatiiis. 
Suppliant's Grove. See page 96. 
Syracuse (Syr-a-cus). A city in Sicily. 

Tarentum. A powerful city in Calabria. R. XXXIV, C. XXIV. 
Tarpeian (Tar-pee-an). See page 89. 
Tarquin. See Sextus and Titus. The family, once kings of Rome, 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 113 

who were exiled by the Romans, and hated for their crimes and 

their pride. 
Thrasymene (Thraz-i-meen). A lake in eastern Etruria. See page 90. 
Titus. One of the Tarquins, a brave warrior fighting in the battle of 

Lake Regillus. R. XIII. 
Tusculum (Tus-cu-lum). See page S8. 

Tyre. An important city in Phoenicia, famous for its purple dyes. 
Umbria (Um-bri-a). One of the districts in Italy, east of Etruria. 
Vesta. Goddess of the hearth. See page 90. 
Virginia. The young girl, daughter of Virginius, who was the 

heroine of the third lay. 
Volscians (V61-shans). A tribe of central Italy, enemies of the 

Romans. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
• I 

EPICS AND ROMANCES 

Homer : I/iad. Translated by Lang, Leaf, and Myers. Macmillan, 

New York. 
Virgil : ^neid. Translated by J. Conington. Macmillan, New York. 

/^neid. Translated by Lonsdale and Lee. Macmillan, New 

York. 

Beowulf. Translated by C. B. Tinker. Newson, New York. 

The Cid. Translated by J. Ormsby. Longmans, London. 

The Lay of the Niebelungs. Translated by A. Horton. Bohn 

Library. Macmillan, New York. 

The Song of Roland. Translated by I. Butler. Houghton, 

Mifflin & Co., Boston. 

Ctuhulain of Muirthemne. Translated by Lady Gregory. 

Scribner, New York. 

— Gods and Fighting Men. Translated and arranged by Lady 

Gregory. Scribner, New York. 

Volsunga Saga. Translated by Magndsson and Morris. 

Camelot Series. Scott, London. 



114 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Virgil : The Story of Grettir the Strong. Translated by Magndsson and 

Morris. London. 
Tasso, T. : Jerusalem Delivered. Translated by J. H. Wiffen. Bohn 

Library. Macmillan, New York. 
Ariosto, L. : The Mad Orlando. Translated by W. S. Rose. Bohn 

Library. Macmillan, New York. 
Spenser, E. : The Faerie Queene. Globe Edition. Macmillan, New 

York. 
Scott, Sir W. : Poetical Works. Macmillan, New York. 
Malory, Sir T. : Le Morte U Arthur (the greatest English prose 

version of the Arthur story). Globe Edition. Macmillan, New 

York. Temple Edition, 4 vols. Macmillan, New York. 

II 

BALLADS AND SHORTER NARRATIVES 

Cook, A. S., and Tinker, C. B. : Select Translations from Old English 
Poetry (contains Battle of Brunanburh, Battle of Maiden., and 
selections from other heroic poems). Ginn, Boston. 

Ellis, G. : Specimens of Early English Metrical Rotfiances. Bohn, 
London. Macmillan, New York. 

Weston, J.: Translator. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Scrib- 
ner, New York. 

Child, F. J. : Editor. English and Scottish Popular Ballads (one- 
volume edition, by H. C. Sargent and G. L. Kittredge). Hough- 
ton, Mifflin & Co., Boston. 

Bates, K. L. : Editor. A Ballad Book. Leach, Boston. 

Lockhart, J. G. : Translator. Ancient Spanish Ballads. Murray, 
London. 

Weston, J. : Translator. Three Lays of Marie de France. Scribner, 
New York. 

RiCKERT, E. : Translator. Seven Lays of Marie de France. Scrib- 
ner, New York. 

Ill 

BOOKS RELATING TO THE HISTORY OF ROME 
BoTSFORD, G. W. : A Llistory of Pome. Macmillan, New York. 
Ihne, W. : Early Rome. Scribner, New York. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 115 

SCHREIBER, T. : Atlas of Classical Antiquities. Macmillan, New York. 

Hare, A. J. C. : Walks in Rome. London. 

Mackail, J. : Latin Literature. Scribner, New York. 

Hill, G. F. : Illustrations of School Classics. Macmillan, New York. 

Smith, W. : Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. Little, 

Brown & Co., Boston. 
Smith, W. : Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. Little, Brown, 

& Co., Boston. 
Smith, W. : Dictionary of Classical Biography and Mythology. Little, 

Brown & Co., Boston. 
MuNRO, D. C. : A Source Book of Roman History. Heath, Boston. 
Shumway, E. S. : ^ Day in Ancient Rome. Heath, Boston. 

IV 

BOOKS RELATING TO MACAULAY 

Trevelyan, G. O. : The Life and Letters of Lord Macaulay. Harper, 
New York, 

Morrison, J. C. : Macaulay. English Men of Letters Series. Mac- 
millan, New York. 

MiNTO, W. : Macatday (in Manual of English Prose) . Ginn & Co., 
Boston. 

Macaulay, T. B. : Essays. Published in various editions. Students 
should read Milton, Addison, Johnson, Hastings, Madame D''Arblay, 
and Bunyan. The essays on Milton, Addison, and Johnson are 
published by D. C. Heath & Co., Boston. 



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